What party should be in government after the next general election?

DH2K9

Fianna Fail
Fine Gael
Labour

jmayo

DH2K9 wrote: »

Fianna Fail
Fine Gael
Labour

None of the above

and that doesn't mean the leftie nutjobs, the shinners or the yellows.

And please let no one mention the new music party.

We need a benevolent dictator.

cson

Politics forum tbh.

Liam Byrne

At the moment, a combination of FG & Labour is the best of a bad lot.

Maybe they'll sow the seeds for growth like they did last time around, and maybe we'll have learned not to be greedy or put up with corruption.

All that said, I'd love to see a completely new, ethical party wipe the boards with all of the current shower.

Head The Wall

I think the last line is fairly attainable.



Just leave out the word ethical, that's all thats needed. It won't happen otherwise

questionmark?

Fact is FG will be there the largest party but wont gain a majority Labour will the junior coalition party and as much as i hate to say it FF will not be wiped out like some people think. The same as Labour, who will not gain as many seats as the polls suggest as they quite simply do not have the resources or activists to translate these opionion polls into actual real votes.


/waits for labourites to tell me i'm wrong and there great, loads of policies and tales of how Eamon Gilmore destroyed chuck norris in an arm wrestling match

ANXIOUS

Finna fail/minority party

Ren2k7

TBH, i don't think it'll matter who gets into power as they will continue the policies of the present administration. Michael noonen of fine gael admitted as much recently with regards nama, recapitalisation of the banks, and cuts in spending. In fact the opposition parties are probably delighted that fianna fail are the ones making the tough decisions now with enda and pat taking over in 2012.

Liam Byrne

Head The Wall wrote: »

I think the last line is fairly attainable.

Who had you in mind ? Will there be a brand-new party available in time for the next election ?

doctorwu

The I M F.

Head The Wall

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Who had you in mind ? Will there be a brand-new party available in time for the next election ?

Sorry, I left out the sarcastic rolleyes.

Sleepy

I still reckon Devore would do a better job on his own than the current Dail and Seanad put together. Himself and the lads have built this site into one of Ireland's largest with limited resources and through harnessing the willingness of people to volunteer their time for a peceived increase in status. How bad a job could they do at running the country?

Pete_Cavan

questionmark? wrote: »

Fact is FG will be there the largest party but wont gain a majority Labour will the junior coalition party and as much as i hate to say it FF will not be wiped out like some people think. The same as Labour, who will not gain as many seats as the polls suggest as they quite simply do not have the resources or activists to translate these opionion polls into actual real votes.

I agree with you can Labour not doing as well as the polls suggest. Still not sure about FG being the largest party though. Maybe if Enda had lost the leadership challenge they would have become the largest party but not with him as leader. FG have been handed the best opportunity possible to become the largest party in the country, allbeit through FF incompetence and not their own brilliance, but they are doing their best to screw it up. First they split the party with a leadership challenge (which was 100% correct, we can have Enda as Taoiseach) and now the O'Flynn fund raiser thing. They will have to cop themselves on if they want to be top dog.

Ren2k7 wrote: »

TBH, i don't think it'll matter who gets into power as they will continue the policies of the present administration. Michael noonen of fine gael admitted as much recently with regards nama, recapitalisation of the banks, and cuts in spending. In fact the opposition parties are probably delighted that fianna fail are the ones making the tough decisions now with enda and pat taking over in 2012.

I think your right about not much changing. The decisions being taken now, be they right or wrong, are for the long road and whoever is in government next will have to stick with them regardless of whether they agree with them or not. I think thats FFs only saving grace, Lenny knows what he is doing and seems to be doing a good job of it (internationally we have received a lot of praise for our handling of the crisis so far) so maybe we should just let him at it seeing as we will have to continue with those policies anyway.

CerebralCortex

Liam Byrne wrote: »

At the moment, a combination of FG & Labour is the best of a bad lot.

Maybe they'll sow the seeds for growth like they did last time around, and maybe we'll have learned not to be greedy or put up with corruption.

All that said, I'd love to see a completely new, ethical party wipe the boards with all of the current shower.

Head The Wall wrote: »

I think the last line is fairly attainable.

Just leave out the word ethical, that's all thats needed. It won't happen otherwise

For an ethical government you need an ethical electorate. Have we got one? I don't think so. FG & Labour unfortunately seem to be the only choice, but I won't be voting for FG, I come from FG stock and I know first hand what they're like!

doolox

It looks as if FG and Labour and others will be the only way to form a government big enough to beat FF , Greens and Sinn Fein.

FG have already committed to not forming a coalition with SF so that rules out SF being in the running with an anti-FF coalition.

Ideally it would be great if FG could get rid of Enda but that won't happen now in time to form a credible alternative with a new leader to fight the election in 2012. It would also be great if a form of equal partnership with Labour sharing the taoiseachs post for 2 1/2 years and FG having it for the other 2 1/2 years of the next government so that more Labour oriented policies could be implemented or at least given a fair trial.

Whoever is in power will have a very hard time getting us out of the mess we are in and moving towards some sort of sanity and stability in the future.

jmayo

Sleepy wrote: »

I still reckon Devore would do a better job on his own than the current Dail and Seanad put together. Himself and the lads have built this site into one of Ireland's largest with limited resources and through harnessing the willingness of people to volunteer their time for a peceived increase in status. How bad a job could they do at running the country?

Yeah but didn't they sell out to a property realted entity ?
So beware vested interests...
BTW I think it is the people that post that makes the site not the mods nor even the owners.

Of course credit is due to the sys admins who keep thinks running often on limited resources.

Head The Wall

People have to want to provide the platform for us to speak though. Be that good or bad Engrish

Godge

Anyone but Fianna Fail is the answer to the OP's question.

This country has been run for fifteen years in a way that those who are friends of FF get listened to, be they developers, builders, union leaders, etc. The spoils of government were handed out - benchmarking, increases in the minimum wage, lower capital gains tax, property tax relief on hotels, apartments in ballygoanywhere, tax relief for buying paintings and owning horses.

Any other party coming in would have to run the country differently, and from where I am standing, differently can only mean better.

ednwireland

Liam Byrne wrote: »

At the moment, a combination of FG & Labour is the best of a bad lot.

Maybe they'll sow the seeds for growth like they did last time around, and maybe we'll have learned not to be greedy or put up with corruption.

All that said, I'd love to see a completely new, ethical party wipe the boards with all of the current shower.

politics and ethics = oxymoron

fearbainne

I'm guna throw this out there, and this maybe the stupidest thing yas ever heard...

but is it true that Gilmore was once a Communist?!! :O

Nody

DH2K9 wrote: »

Fianna Fail
Fine Gael
Labour

None of the above, vote Piraty party - the party that actually stands for something and sticks to it!

changes

Westminster... we are a failed state and incapable of governing ourselves

Failing that ABFF (Anyone But Fianna Fail)

meditraitor

fearbainne wrote: »

I'm guna throw this out there, and this maybe the stupidest thing yas ever heard...

but is it true that Gilmore was once a Communist?!! :O

Yep

He defends Labour history against old and not-so-old attacks about communism (just last month, junior minister Martin Mansergh cited the fact that Gilmore was a member in the 1980s of the Workers’ Party, who were "fraternal mendicants of the Soviet and North Korean communist parties").

Says Gilmore: "Anybody who stuck their head over the parapet, going right back over the years – Larkin, Connolly, Noel Browne, Jim Kemmy – the first attack on them always was that they were a communist, some kind of a red, they were dangerous and the world would change as we know it.

"And to some extent, that is still the first line of attack that comes from Fianna Fáil. Now, that had a lot more traction at a time when it was possible to combine that with a denunciation from the pulpit or whatever. It had an ability to frighten people. I don’t think that applies anymore; I think people are much more open to the ideas that the Labour Party has."

But he’s also careful to say that the Labour Party itself, too, has changed

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kfcwkfqlmhmh/rss2/#ixzz0utRCqYNN

well sort of;)

scr123

Normally I would say a FF government from 2012 but as the Greens have been so brave I believe they should be in ahead of other small parties.
The most important thing is the present government serves its full term before the hand over to the bitterly divided FG party and the hopelessly inadequate Labour party.
Then again, once the election campaign starts in 2012 FF will be back to 35% in the polls and three weeks of warnings to the public about the potential disaster of FG/Lab should ensure FF will be back to continue the economic progress this country has made under their stewardship

meditraitor

scr123 wrote: »

Normally I would say a FF government from 2012 but as the Greens have been so brave I believe they should be in ahead of other small parties.
The most important thing is the present government serves its full term before the hand over to the bitterly divided FG party and the hopelessly inadequate Labour party.
Then again, once the election campaign starts in 2012 FF will be back to 35% in the polls and three weeks of warnings to the public about the potential disaster of FG/Lab should ensure FF will be back to continue the economic progress this country has made under their stewardship

rofl, brilliant stuff, I will be keeping an eye out for you young man....

changes

the greens are far to sore on the pocket... they will be in big trouble in 2012

stopusingoil

How about, instead of continuing to convince ourselves that government works, we boycott the elections, overthrow the government, and start living off the land?

Just an idea :P

meditraitor

changes wrote: »

the greens are far to sore on the pocket... they will be in big trouble in 2012

I can only see one TD being returned from the greens as things stand..... trevor...

fearbainne

Cheers for that meditraitor!!

Ah now in fairness, the Greens are poor.. I was listenin 2 that Eamonn Ryan fella chattin the last day at the McGill Summer School and he talks some rot, he made one comment about Donegal and was nearly booed of stage..

Its guna be a tough election to call in my opin but id like to see a change from FF so im guna say Fine Gael..

Just for a bita craic!

tommolloy

Should be Fianna Fail majority or FF/Inds but of course that ain't gonna happen...

meditraitor

tommolloy wrote: »

Should be Fianna Fail majority or FF/Inds but of course that ain't gonna happen...

May I ask why you think FF should be ?

Laminations

meditraitor wrote: »

May I ask why you think FF should be ?

Because he's most likely a FFer, DUH!!

fearbainne wrote: »

.
Its guna be a tough election to call in my opin

I'm worried this is true and it depresses me, we have learned nothing.

RichardAnd

My call is FF despite what recent poles have suggested. Remember, I could go into an IRA bar in town tonight and do a pole which will result in SF having 90%+ popularity. Besides, in this country, people generally do what they've always done without thinking about it.

But it's too early to call this with certainty. 2012 is two years away and it seems likely that we'll be better than we are now by then (hopefully). We won't be back to the celtic tiger, wiping our back-sides with tenners but I'd say employment will be up.

Will be an interesting election either way but it will probably have little impact on day to day life.

Godge

stopusingoil wrote: »

How about, instead of continuing to convince ourselves that government works, we boycott the elections, overthrow the government, and start living off the land?

Just an idea :P

But who will we blame for the resultant famine?

RichardAnd

Godge wrote: »

But who will we blame for the resultant famine?

We;d find someone to shift blame onto, we always do.

Liam Byrne

RichardAnd wrote: »

We;d find someone to shift blame onto, we always do.

Shift blame, or allocate it to those who are responsible ?

Lloyd Xmas

A party lead by David McWilliams and Morgan Kelly to implement sensible policies to the benefit of all, coupled with Colm McCarthy to strip the living sh*t out of all unecessary expense now and into the future.

We should take a new direction altogether, and get rid of the toxic format of politics that exist at present.
Move away from the "wait in line culture" and instead start appointing people based on merit.

daithicarr

it would be nice to see a new party which is up to making the tough decisions necessary and bring in much needed reform across the board.
FF are incompetent and incredibly corrupt,
FG don't inspire me much either, they have the same political dynasties, invested interests and approach to politics and while maybe not as inept as FF don't seem to be up to the job.
Lab wont tackle massively needed public sector reform and have very few polices outlined on how to get us out of this mess, granted they are a smaller party than the above two with less resources but they still could outline some of it.

jmayo

Godge wrote: »

But who will we blame for the resultant famine?

Lehmans ?

Lloyd Xmas wrote: »

A party lead by David McWilliams and Morgan Kelly to implement sensible policies to the benefit of all, coupled with Colm McCarthy to strip the living sh*t out of all unecessary expense now and into the future.
...

Throw in Shane Ross, Peter Matthews and Michael O'Leary and I'd vote for them.

RichardAnd

I think we all need to understand something about how people vote. The majority of people I know have little real interest in politics and will likely cast their vote on an emotional reason as opposed to thinking about what is best.

If the election was held tomorrow, Joe Normal would go in aware of two facts; he's less well of than before and FF are in power so he'll probably vote for FG.

meditraitor

RichardAnd wrote: »

I think we all need to understand something about how people vote. The majority of people I know have little real interest in politics and will likely cast their vote on an emotional reason as opposed to thinking about what is best.

If the election was held tomorrow, Joe Normal would go in aware of two facts; he's less well of than before and FF are in power so he'll probably vote for FG.

Very true, and it shows a complete ignorance of politics by the general public.

Liam Byrne

RichardAnd wrote: »

I think we all need to understand something about how people vote. The majority of people I know have little real interest in politics and will likely cast their vote on an emotional reason as opposed to thinking about what is best.

If the election was held tomorrow, Joe Normal would go in aware of two facts; he's less well of than before and FF are in power so he'll probably vote for FG.

That might be true of a certain section of society, along with those who would vote for a particular party regardless.

But it's simplistic, and it's also the FF party line to excuse their low standings.

Personally, it has nothing to do with being "less well off than before"; it has to do with FF proving that they can't manage an economy or ensure that it's sustainable; and also their condoning of corruption and looking after "jobs for the boys [DIRECT quote from Ahern : "because they were my friends"] " - even those who have proven that they're not up to the job.

Will a different crowd be much better ? I don't know; but if a contractor builds a house for you and it falls down around you, you don't hire the same contractor again (and you fire the current one for incompetency IMMEDIATELY, not 3 or 4 years down the line).

ninty9er

As a member of the Fianna Fáil party, the obvious response should be a FF government, but realistically, the organisation needs the attention of the LEader to get it back in working order.

That said, I don't see how anyone can say who should be in government in 2 years time when no manifestos have yet been published. It's like buying "a car" without seeing or driving it.

ninty9er

Lloyd Xmas wrote: »

A party lead by David McWilliams and Morgan Kelly to implement sensible policies to the benefit of all, coupled with Colm McCarthy to strip the living sh*t out of all unecessary expense now and into the future.

Great!

A fiction writer, and 2 people who would run the country on the basis of the point at which 2 lines on a graph meet, irrespective of need.

People also need to remember one simple fact: Oppositions don't win elections, governments either win or lose them.

Liam Byrne

ninty9er wrote: »

A fiction writer.....

Plenty of those in the current shower, between Ahern, O'Dea, Callely, Cowen & Lenihan! :rolleyes:

Hazlittle

Labour party because I the idea of taking away people constitutional right to a passport and abolishing the right to silence. You when sometimes people are being all pesky with this hippie notion freedom notion that the police cant abuse you? I hate that! Oh and tax people who arent me and gives mez loadz a money! Yeha loadz of money! Everyone with me now! Loadza loadza money!






:eek:

jmayo

ninty9er wrote: »

As a member of the Fianna Fáil party, the obvious response should be a FF government, but realistically, the organisation needs the attention of the LEader to get it back in working order.

fecking typical.
Your primary concern appears to be the state of the party and what is good for the party, not the country. :rolleyes:

ninty9er wrote: »

That said, I don't see how anyone can say who should be in government in 2 years time when no manifestos have yet been published. It's like buying "a car" without seeing or driving it.

I have seen too much of the ff/yellows/pds cars and i don't like getting sat on by over inflated ar**es.

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Plenty of those in the current shower, between Ahern, O'Dea, Callely, Cowen & Lenihan! :rolleyes:

You forgot o'donoghue and his epic on how to visit racecourses courtesy of the taxpayer.

Hazlittle wrote: »

Labour party because I the idea of taking away people constitutional right to a passport and abolishing the right to silence. You when sometimes people are being all pesky with this hippie notion freedom notion that the police cant abuse you? I hate that! Oh and tax people who arent me and gives mez loadz a money! Yeha loadz of money! Everyone with me now! Loadza loadza money!

:eek:

After watching Rabitte's display last night on Primetime I dispair that Labour are just going to cowtow to the unions running the public sector.

View

The Communist Party of Ireland - unlike all other political parties, they can't be blamed for their actions or inactions in the Dail over the last few years.

Also, with so much of the economy, now effectively being run by the government (via NAMA, the banks etc), I am not sure there is much left of capitalism in Ireland.

ninty9er

jmayo wrote: »

fecking typical.
Your primary concern appears to be the state of the party and what is good for the party, not the country. :rolleyes:

As an organisational officer of the party it's my responsibilty to be primarily concerned with the state of the party mechanism. I won't apologise for that. In fact you should be happy about it.

It is for our publicly elected representatives to be concerned for the state of the jurisdiction to which they are elected. A strong organisation will ensure that the correct people are put forward for these elections, which is not always the case at the moment.

The organisation needs to be fixed for the benefit of its members and the electorate. Fine Gael have come some way in fixing the organisation, this is why you see poeple like Leo Varadkar and James Reilly (as much as I dislike both politically) being selected at conventions rather than some councillor's son/wife/neice/other random family member/TD's canvassing team who have never sat in an organisational meeting in their life.

Fianna Fáil is currently operated by TDs and Councillors as opposed to its members and that is slowly but surely coming to an end. We've had enough of it. We're a support for them, but WE elect how to run the organisation, not them.

Idbatterim

Id have to say FF, FG and Labour are a joke, what are labour going to do? pay out more on welfare, more to the under worked overpaid PS? tax "the rich" whoever they are? I reckon FF are the best of a bad lot. And that is after the mess they have and continue to make! That is some statement! I reckon if people think things are bad now, imagine the dispair if Labour got in, we would probably become even more uncompetitive.

Liam Byrne

ninty9er wrote: »

As an organisational officer of the party it's my responsibilty to be primarily concerned with the state of the party mechanism.

I disagree. Since the reason for a political party to exist should be to serve the country, then the interests of the country should come first.

If you want to "fix" FF like you say, then work away, and (genuinely) best of luck with that....you've a massive task ahead of you.

But as an Irish person you shouldn't want FF back in power until AFTER it is fixed.

Idbatterim wrote: »

Id have to say FF, FG and Labour are a joke, what are labour going to do? pay out more on welfare, more to the under worked overpaid PS? tax "the rich" whoever they are? I reckon FF are the best of a bad lot. And that is after the mess they have and continue to make! That is some statement! I reckon if people think things are bad now, imagine the dispair if Labour got in, we would probably become even more uncompetitive.

As distinct from the FF approach of paying out more in banking bailouts and incompetent bankers' fees ? And taxing "the poor", which is most of us ?

The despair (and a quick if unwanted exit from this country) will be massive if FF get back in.

Mind you, that will leave them to run the place into the ground in the interests of their cronies, so maybe that's their long-term aim.