political reluctance

My name is URL

I'm always torn on what to think about Gerry Adams, for example.. On the one hand he is a great speaker, a man of conviction who sports worthy mustache. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have a certain respect for the man.

Now that might make some people think I'm a supporter of the people that once condoned the murder of innocent people. Or that I am of the opinion that isolationism is a good thing.. I think neither of those things however.

It's a pity that he is forevermore constrained by the ideals he held in the past, imo. We get to change our mindsets but they never seem to be willing to. There's a few politicians who I feel would be better suited in parties which are not-so-aligned with the expectations of their targeted electorate.

Is this a problem in Ireland, or is it something which is inevitable in all party politics?. be it through our own reluctance to accept that politics can change, or the political foresight that the correct decisions are always static?

ScumLord

It's party politics, Career politicians are no good in government. They should get a few years and if they prove themselves good at a job they can be hired by the government to do a particular job.

galwayrush

Perhaps some new political parties is what's needed, i feel the existing ones can't / won't change.

sheesh

I'd imagine changing parties is always risky for an elected representative usually its the party that gets you elected its the people that know the area and are involved in canvassing for you.

You would have to have huge name recognition to get re-elected on your own and you would have to deal with your former party member being out to get you.

gurramok

In before Mike65

Donkey Oaty

My name is URL wrote: »

I'm always torn on what to think about Adolf Hitler/Joseph Stalin/Harold Shipman/Josef Fritzl for example.. On the one hand he is a great speaker, a man of conviction who sports worthy mustache. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have a certain respect for the man.

Now that might make some people think I'm a supporter of the people that once condoned the murder of innocent people. Or that I am of the opinion that isolationism is a good thing.. I think neither of those things however.

It's a pity that he is forevermore constrained by the ideals he held in the past, imo.

Yes...time to move on.

Sardonicat

NEVER trust a charismatic man. Especially one with a beard.

Einhard

galwayrush wrote: »

Perhaps some new political parties is what's needed, i feel the existing ones can't / won't change.

I think that's a tad unfair on Labour, and especially FG to be honest. Neither of them have been in power for 13 years, and when they were last in government, it was quite a success. Also, say what you want bout Inda Kinny but his party have come out with several interesting policy proposals over the past year or so. They were also the only party who took a consistent line against benchmarking, even though they knew it would hurt them in the polls. Perhaps instead of looking for new parties, we had a proper look at the existing ones before dismissing them out of hand.

Might also help if we were a tad more responsible as an electorate.

starbelgrade

I like Gerry Adams as a speaker a lot. He is one of the few politicians in this country that speaks with a combination of real conviction & intelligence. It's just a pity that many of the things he strives for, leaves him & his party politically isolated.

Riddle101

While I do not condone the acts of the IRA, it's hard for me not to have a degree of respect for the man. People can talk about the man's past, but to a certain degree people are over generalising. Jerry Adam's past pretty much labels him a terrorist to a lot of people, which automatically means everything he says is wrong, and his word can only be taken with a grain of salt. I mean he did some good for helping ETA and Spain come to a peace treaty a while ago, yet people will still look down at it and say, well he's still a terrorist to me.

He's not an angel by chance but if he says something, i'll listen and think on what he said, and i'll take it into consideration when coming up with my own opinons.

OutlawPete

starbelgrade wrote: »

It's just a pity that many of the things he strives for, leaves him & his party politically isolated.

They're not gone away you know

The After Hours Troll

Riddle101 wrote: »

While I do not condone the acts of the IRA, it's hard for me not to have a degree of respect for the man. People can talk about the man's past, but to a certain degree people are over generalising. Jerry Adam's past pretty much labels him a terrorist to a lot of people, which automatically means everything he says is wrong, and his word can only be taken with a grain of salt. I mean he did some good for helping ETA and Spain come to a peace treaty a while ago, yet people will still look down at it and say, well he's still a terrorist to me.

He's not an angel by chance but if he says something, i'll listen and think on what he said, and i'll take it into consideration when coming up with my own opinons.

Sure Gerry is no angel, but your right, there is no angels in government either.

Personally I've felt for a while Gerry Adams would make a good Taoiseach. He could stand in Donegal if he wanted, he has a place there.

If his most ardent opposers would have to agree he could not do any worse than the current government.

PanchoVilla

I think anyone who was heavily involved with IRA politics in the past needs to step back and let the next generation take control. There's too much bad blood for people to disassociate Gerry's big beardy head with terrorism. Pierce Doherty and yer one with the face are pretty good and should be placed in a leadership role while Gerry and Martin take a break for a while.

The After Hours Troll

PanchoVilla wrote: »

I think anyone who was heavily involved with IRA politics in the past needs to step back and let the next generation take control. There's too much bad blood for people to disassociate Gerry's big beardy head with terrorism. Pierce Doherty and yer one with the face are pretty good and should be placed in a leadership role while Gerry and Martin take a break for a while.

Terrorism or freedom fighting?

It's a very strong word to use on the man himself. He has changed alot as well.

PanchoVilla

The After Hours Troll wrote: »

Terrorism or freedom fighting?

It's a very strong word to use on the man himself. He has changed alot as well.

I actually like him a lot but that doesn't change the fact that many people just don't trust him. He needs to step down and let people get used to a fresh face that's not associated with the Troubles. If SF is to move forward they need to concentrate more on the counties we have, which have gone to shíte in the last 15-20 years.

policarp

Sinn Fein is a 32 county party.
Could Gerry Adams have a seat North and South at the same time?