Say one positive thing about the government

Brussels Sprout

I didn't vote for the government parties and I'm certainly not a supporter of theirs for many many reasons. However, reading all of these negative threads is getting a bit depressing. So in this thread say 1 thing that various FF led governments since 1997 have done that you approve of.

I'll get the ball rolling by saying the introduction of the smoking ban.

\Sits and waits for the hive of activity this thread will be....










:pac:

MrStuffins

ninty9er

M1/ M3/ M6/ M7/ M8/ M9. Luas, DART expansion. And before the pedants get in, I am aware that SOME of the money for SOME of those projects came from PPP and ESF.

Zambia

Plastic bag charge.

Einhard

Smoking ban.

MrStuffins

Plastic bag ban!

bladespin

Plastic bag tax.


I would say the motorway network but of course it only gets delivered when the need is gone

Mr.Micro

Stopping the EU from endorsing Israel in handling of EU citizens data.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0902/israel.html

Lenny Lovett

They've only got another twenty months max left in power.... Is that positive enough?

Keith186

Reduce excise duty on beer in the last budget. Now many a six pack is usually now a tenner.

exaisle

They'll be gone soon.

PeterIanStaker

Its easy to avoid their propaganda, as its in a newspaper with a distinctive purple top that only comes out on Sunday?

mikom

They're great liars.

OS119

they'll make a superb dance floor.

drBill

Lenny Lovett wrote: »

They've only got another twenty months max left in power.... Is that positive enough?

Damn, beaten to it!

Mr.Micro

Posters are struggling to find anything positive.....not surprising because there is very little.

super_furry

The bike to work scheme is a great initiative.

Now if only we had work.

OS119

Mr.Micro wrote: »

Posters are struggling to find anything positive.....not surprising because there is very little.

actually i think they'll have a very positive effect on the future of Ireland - in 40 years they'll be the bogeyman of corruption and incompetence that parents will frighten their children with whenever those children say 'i'm not interested in politics...'

skearon

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

I didn't vote for the government parties and I'm certainly not a supporter of theirs for many many reasons. However, reading all of these negative threads is getting a bit depressing. So in this thread say 1 thing that various FF led governments since 1997 have done that you approve of.

I'll get the ball rolling by saying the introduction of the smoking ban.

Good Friday Agreement

skearon

Mr.Micro wrote: »

Posters are struggling to find anything positive.....not surprising because there is very little.

Poster asked for one item each, not a list

maynooth_rules

Mary Hanafin. Always liked her and she strikes me as a hard working , competent, diligent woman who is a shining light in a bucket full of ****. Everything else about Fianna Fail repulses me. Everything about the Green party for the past 3 years repulses me(and i voted for them).

round tower huntsman

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

I didn't vote for the government parties and I'm certainly not a supporter of theirs for many many reasons. However, reading all of these negative threads is getting a bit depressing. So in this thread say 1 thing that various FF led governments since 1997 have done that you approve of.

I'll get the ball rolling by saying the introduction of the smoking ban.

eh.....................eh.......................eh.............................. they've,and especially biffo, have kept diagio in business.

goose2005

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Mary Hanafin. Always liked her and she strikes me as a hard working , competent, diligent woman who is a shining light in a bucket full of ****. Everything else about Fianna Fail repulses me. Everything about the Green party for the past 3 years repulses me(and i voted for them).

She certainly appears a lot more competent than the rest, but she's still classic FF - her father and brother were Senators, she was a schoolteacher before election. Add to that her time in the DES, when she scrapped school league tables, didn't look at school bus safety till 5 girls died.

goose2005

ninty9er wrote: »

M1/ M3/ M6/ M7/ M8/ M9. Luas, DART expansion. And before the pedants get in, I am aware that SOME of the money for SOME of those projects came from PPP and ESF.

M9 not necessary, Luas went way over budget and lines don't meet.

Keith186 wrote: »

Reduce excise duty on beer in the last budget. Now many a six pack is usually now a tenner.

That's to make you too pissed to FITE DA POWA

Ulysses Gaze

The one positive thing about this Government, particularly FF, is that they've finally been exposed to the people of Ireland as the Shysters they've always been - no ideology - whatever you're having yourself.

Also been exposed for a lack of any real talent in their party. O'Cuiv? O'Dea? Frank Fahey? Conor Lenihan? Mary Coughlan? Batt O'Keefe? Mary 'Unfortunately our people are living longer' Hanafin? Dempsey? Laughable stuff.

Hopefully the Irish people now see that FF are a sham and that the party hijacked by the corrupt Haughey and his cadre of buffons is a cancer that needs to be expunged from politics in Ireland.

Hey, I can dream!

goat2

worst unemployment in history, money for anglo, no money for jobs, stopping turfcutting, up with insurances

Cavehill Red

Something positive about the current government?

They'd make great targets for high-velocity rifles.

mikemac

Revenue online (ROS)

Works extremely well

If they're going to be hammered for e-voting and PPARS then credit where it's due for ROS

demonspawn

They haven't let the country sink into the Atlantic.....yet.

round tower huntsman

one positive thing about the government???
best thing ff/greens have done for ireland is destroy their parties for a generation(hopefully). when an election comes and people who havent opened their eyes finally do,then the damage will be seen clear as day and ff/greens wil be no more.

ILA

They offer the ultimate justification for thousands of lazy people: "Just look at the Government".

Cavehill Red

feelingstressed wrote: »

Revenue online (ROS)

Works extremely well

If they're going to be hammered for e-voting and PPARS then credit where it's due for ROS

With Revenue, you mean?

The Raven.

goose2005 wrote: »

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Mary Hanafin. Always liked her and she strikes me as a hard working , competent, diligent woman who is a shining light in a bucket full of ****. Everything else about Fianna Fail repulses me. Everything about the Green party for the past 3 years repulses me(and i voted for them).

She certainly appears a lot more competent than the rest, but she's still classic FF - her father and brother were Senators, she was a schoolteacher before election. Add to that her time in the DES, when she scrapped school league tables, didn't look at school bus safety till 5 girls died.

If Mary Hanafin had her way, we would be still stuck with Bertie.

"Bertie Ahern hasn't said he's going after the next election. He said he's going when he's 60, that gives him another five years. There's nobody looking for Bertie Ahern to go, he's still the greatest asset that we have as a party."

"I think, like most people in the rest of the country, he [Bertie Ahern] is a man of integrity. I genuinely believe he's not a man caught by the trappings of power or trappings of money and it needed people out there to put that view in an independent way, so I was quite happy to do it for him," Hanafin says.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/the-woman-to-teach-fianna-fail-a-few-things-136028.html

She doesn't sound too smart to me. She and Brian Lenihan were in tears when Bertie finally had to go.

Mezcita

Brian Lenihan.

The Raven.

Mezcita wrote: »

Brian Lenihan.

Yes, Brian Lenihan. I should have made that clear. I have modified the post. They were the only two I have read about as being in tears when Bertie had to step down as Taoiseach.

round tower huntsman

only asked the question? what did he mean by BL?

round tower huntsman

crossed wires,ok.

Mezcita

round tower huntsman wrote: »

only asked the question? what did he mean by BL?

I'm saying Brian Lenihan is one positive thing about the government.

Plus you cancer comment is out of order.

Colonel Sanders

Mezcita wrote: »

Brian Lenihan.

Can you elaborate?

A lot of negative feelings were made clear in this thread.

I'll say smoking ban. However the negatives monumental in conparison to the few positives

rightwingdub

Reducing income taxes from budgets 1998 to budgets 2000.
Smoking ban
new roads infrastructure.

Scofflaw

Yes, comments about cancer are entirely inappropriate.

moderately,
Scofflaw

Mezcita

Colonel Sanders wrote: »

Can you elaborate?

Lenihan is in a position where he cannot win no matter what decisions he makes as they will be viewed sceptically by the majority of the electorate. The unfortunate reality is that his illness creates a situation where he has nothing to lose as I doubt he will run again to be a TD. Tough decisions have to be made and his lack of personal agenda means that he will make them regardless of the public outcry about pay cuts etc.

paddyland

Mezcita wrote: »

Lenihan is in a position where he cannot win no matter what decisions he makes as they will be viewed sceptically by the majority of the electorate. The unfortunate reality is that his illness creates a situation where he has nothing to lose as I doubt he will run again to be a TD. Tough decisions have to be made and his lack of personal agenda means that he will make them regardless of the public outcry about pay cuts etc.

Tough decisions are one thing, right decisions are something entirely else. Unfortunately, even if Lenihan were suddenly to pull rabbits out of hats, it is too late, his credibility is shot, and it needs someone else to try to regain public support. Lenihan can come on telly all he likes, but there is nothing he can say I wish to listen to. I don't believe him. I can't.

round tower huntsman

BL signed off the biggest gamble this state has ever made. win or loose its the irish workers that'll pay out either way. he's an economic traitor just like ahern and cowen and fitzer and neary.
he wont get any sympathy from me cos he has cancer. he wont be waiting 12/18 months to be tested, he wont die waiting to see a specialist to tell him if he has cancer or not,he'll get everything money can buy as soon as he needs it. cut backs in patient care wont effect him. mean while the working class will die waiting to see consultants and die cos their xrays are faulty:mad::mad::mad:

Mezcita

round tower huntsman wrote: »

BL signed off the biggest gamble this state has ever made. win or loose its the irish workers that'll pay out either way. he's an economic traitor just like ahern and cowen and fitzer and neary.
he wont get any sympathy from me cos he has cancer. he wont be waiting 12/18 months to be tested, he wont die waiting to see a specialist to tell him if he has cancer or not,he'll get everything money can buy as soon as he needs it. cut backs in patient care wont effect him. mean while the working class will die waiting to see consultants and die cos their xrays are faulty:mad::mad::mad:

So do something about it. Seriously. Go join a political party and encourage people to vote them out. "The government is shi.t" rhetoric has been spouted for ages now but the reality is that the alternatives are far from appealing and its testament to their failure that they have not made proper gains on FF share of electoral vote. FF have a while to go yet before they are voted out. But that's off topic.

Seems to me that it's damage limitation time for FF and Lenihan fits the bill perfectly. The fact that people don't trust him/ think he lacks credibility is irrelevant. He quite simply has nothing to lose here. As I said before, he is making decisions which will inevitably piss people off but they are decisions which have to be made.

Colonel Sanders

Mezcita wrote: »

Lenihan is in a position where he cannot win no matter what decisions he makes as they will be viewed sceptically by the majority of the electorate. The unfortunate reality is that his illness creates a situation where he has nothing to lose as I doubt he will run again to be a TD. Tough decisions have to be made and his lack of personal agenda means that he will make them regardless of the public outcry about pay cuts etc.

He has had plenty of time to make these "tough decisions" and so far he has barely made a dent in the deficit. Social welfare cuts were, in fact, a rise in real terms. The old age pensions was spared for political reasons and the medical card decision was reversed after public pressure. FF have zero ideology apart from remaining in power for as long as possible no matter what the cost. They are incapable of sacrifice for the greater good

In any case the biggest decisions he has made he has got spectacularly wrong. As Paddyland says he has zero credibility. As the architect of "the cheapest bailout in the world so far" and not rushing into the banks "without knowing precisely what the position is in those banks” he has brought the country to the brink of ruin. He has responded to crisis after crisis with spin bluff and further incompetence (see the latest episode here. It has taken him 2 years to "come clean" and even in doing so he is still under cooking the cost of bank bailouts and ignoring completely the capital problems with AIB/BOI and the flodd of mortgage defaults being held back by the moratorium)

I don't view him sceptically on the basis of the "pain" inflicted on me. I understand the concept of "short term gain for long term pain". I will gladly pay more tax if it is return for efficient and useful public services. However if it is to heap more and more cash into the Anglo/INBS bonfire then yes I will be upset

My thoughts are neatly summed up in the thread I linked in my previous post

EDIT: Btw this is all off topic. maybe we should take it to another thread

Mezcita

Colonel Sanders wrote: »

He has had plenty of time to make these "tough decisions" and so far he has barely made a dent in the deficit. Social welfare cuts were, in fact, a rise in real terms. The old age pensions was spared for political reasons and the medical card decision was reversed after public pressure. FF have zero ideology apart from remaining in power for as long as possible no matter what the cost. They are incapable of sacrifice for the greater good

In any case the biggest decisions he has made he has got spectacularly wrong. As Paddyland says he has zero credibility. As the architect of "the cheapest bailout in the world so far" and not rushing into the banks "without knowing precisely what the position is in those banks” he has brought the country to the brink of ruin. He has responded to crisis after crisis with spin bluff and further incompetence (see the latest episode here. It has taken him 2 years to "come clean" and even in doing so he is still under cooking the cost of bank bailouts and ignoring completely the capital problems with AIB/BOI and the flodd of mortgage defaults being held back by the moratorium)

I don't view him sceptically on the basis of the "pain" inflicted on me. I understand the concept of "short term gain for long term pain". I will gladly pay more tax if it is return for efficient and useful public services. However if it is to heap more and more cash into the Anglo/INBS bonfire then yes I will be upset

My thoughts are neatly summed up in the thread I linked in my previous post

EDIT: Btw this is all off topic. maybe we should take it to another thread

But what's the alternative? FF to throw in the towel? Won't happen. People to take to the streets to kick them out? Won't happen. A new political part to rise from the ashes and appeal directly to young voters/ disgruntled FF and FG voters and then get voted in next time? Won't happen.

You're right, we are taking this off topic but returning to my original point, I think that Lenihan is the only option here. The alternatives of Enda and co. do not exactly fill me much confidance about how they would fix things.

Ren2k7

Loads of badly needed new infrastructure (motorways, buses, trains, luas, schools, hospitals, etc).

We may be broke but the fruits of the boom will be with us for decades.

Liam Byrne

Mezcita wrote: »

I think that Lenihan is the only option here. The alternatives of Enda and co. do not exactly fill me much confidance about how they would fix things.

In that case I have absolutely no idea what it is that causes you to "fill with confidence", because Lenihan hasn't done a single thing that makes him credible in my eyes, or even give me a remotely "not a disaster" feeling, let alone actual "confidence".

I can perfectly understand and indentify with Kenny & Co not inspiring confidence, but I cannot see why you view Lenihan as any better or considering him "the only option", at best, he's as clueless as FG, and given what he's signed us up to without the remotest safeguard or any cost/benefit analysis, that's being extremely generous to him.

Mezcita wrote: »

he is making decisions which will inevitably piss people off but they are decisions which have to be made.

Some decision or other has to be made, but there's no indication that Lenihan is making the right ones.

As for the actual thread topic, does "I'm positive that they're ****e" count ?

andrew

+1 On Lenihan. The chap has what is one of the worst jobs in the country at the moment* and has cancer on top of that. It's probably too early to say whether his decisions were the right ones, but he stood out amongst other finance ministers in Europe in that he actually took action.

*In before 'at least he has a job.'