Post your actual political views.

liveline

srsly78 wrote: »

My political views would involve shooting a lot of people so I'm not really allowed to post them.

You'll be voting Sinn Fein then I take it

Amtmann

• Amalgamation of many county councils into regional councils
• Reduce the number of TDs and introduce a list system
• Complete separation of Church and State
• Make all subjects optional after the Junior Certificate
• Introduce foreign languages and IT skills at primary school
• Outlaw one-off housing and concentrate the population in towns and villages
• Set a target to grow the population of Cork City by 100,000, Limerick by 50,000 and Galway by 50,000 and connect these by motorway
• Upgrade the N17, N22, N21, N24, N25, N28 and A5 to dual carriageway standard
• Delivery of DART Underground and Metro North
• End urban sprawl and introduce more high rise buildings in our cities
• Develop nuclear power within Ireland
• Make gym membership 70% tax deductable and promote physical health
• Legalise and regulate prostitution and cannabis
• Create more national parks and increase Ireland's broadleaf woodlands to 15% of land area for recreational and wildlife purposes
• Introduce a tree-planting initiative in all Irish towns (our towns have very few trees)
• Outlaw the removal of hedgerows

hare05

A) steal all ideas from Topper Harley and Gandalf. Give Topper the presidency but reduce his power Token position.

Wind power, hydro power, wave power, some nuclear power as backup. National control of the grid, private companies generating. Tax breaks for companies that achieve environmental targets.

Free healthcare for all life threatening / crippling medical issues. Increase taxes to make up the extra.

Abolish the current tax system. New tax system involving 3 major points of income.
Income tax: knock it up a few points. Incrementally by income. Earn more, pay more. Only small increments, though.
Fuel tax: drive more? Pay more. Anything involving the use of imported energy gets a nice tax dropped on it. Once green energy eventually (years away) becomes enough (inc nuclear) add this tax to gas / peat.

Public transport overhaul. Unified ticket system for all forms of transport in city. Think like Zurich.

Dole credit card to take place of dole cash. Unused amounts on the card are lost at each sign on, no saving your bread until you earn it.

For the homeless: (homeless meaning anyone witno fixed abode or with no employment.) as long as ghost estates exist, use them. seize the land from dodgy developers, have those on the dole work on finishing the houses, and on public transport initiatives. offer the houses on a no interest mortgage system until they can find employment, then charge 1% interest on the remainder of the houses value. they cannot sell the house for monetary gain for 20 years. uses the houses, offers incentive to be productive for those not employed, trains them to do a job, gives them experience, gets public sector jobs done on a lower budget, and gets the homeless off the streets, into a house to earn for themselves.

Legalize gay marriage, new legislation for transgender rights, treatment covered by healthcare just like any other debilitating condition. Full adoption rights for all, with new parents vetted thoroughly to ensure no matter who adopts, they actually can raise a child.

No more stealth taxes, just one big chunk of your pay and supplemental taxes where it would help environmental initiatives.

Education overhaul, continuous assessment, focus on math, science and multilingualism from primary. Offer English, and 2 European languages of the schools choosing. Gaelscoils can choose Irish if they want.
Also focus on usable skills. IT skills like programming (really useful mindset to use in any situation), problem solving, and a focus on health with time dedicated each day to health and fitness.
Secondary gives a wider range of languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Indian, middle eastern languages, etc. Sciences as a general subject for 2 years and then focused sciences for the remainder. Math focused on understanding of mathematical concepts, option of theoretical math. Greater focus on self sufficiency, with a life class that covers cooking, hygiene, basic business concepts, budgeting, writing cvs, etc.
Third level fees low for first timers but high if you repeat. When you get in you bloody well work.

ill leave it at that for now. pick holes in it please as I know its not realistic to expect all this.

Dwellingdweller

TheInquisitor wrote: »

4:) I am pro the legalisation of drugs. The war on drugs has been going on for 30 years and we are in a worse positition now than ever. At least out in the open we can control the quality and tax them.

there's no war on drugs OP. the war on drugs that exists in the minds of western people is like the war on drugs that goes on in a mum's head when she finds out her son's been smoking grass. a war with itself.

anyway! my political views? I think the system we live in is totally doomed to catastrophic failure and that the slightest intervention in a capitalist system puts it on a collision course with failure. you constantly hear "capitalists" (like the ones in power in this country) saying that in a capitalist system it is "survival of the fittest". but it's not. the dole makes sure of that. the only way for a capitalist country to stand firmly on both it's feet is for it to be totally laissez-faire. you wouldn't see London paupers in the 1800s asking for the f'in dole so why do we think we're entitled to it now? :rolleyes:

totally biting the hand that feeds here btw.

upmeath

Tremelo wrote: »

• Amalgamation of many county councils into regional councils

Agree, the way local government works needs massive restructuring.
The country could probably be divided along old provincial boundaries for administrative purposes, but I'd imagine a more efficient and centralised method might be something along the lines of:
The existing 4 subdivisions in Dublin - City, Fingal, South and DLR
1 regional body for development in the Greater Dublin Area - Meath, Kildare, Wicklow. I'd also include Louth for argument's sake because it's close enough, one of our most urbanised counties and its along the M1 corridor.
2 regional councils for the remainder of Leinster, 1 north, 1 south, the northern portion taking in Cavan and Monaghan, the south taking in Waterford
3 regional bodies for Munster: 1 rural, 1 for Cork city, 1 for Limerick city
3 regional bodies for Connacht and Donegal - Galway city, 1 for south, 1 for Sligo upwards
There you go, instead of 30-odd county, city and borough councils you've 13, the smallest of them catering to city regions of 80,000 (Galway or Limerick, the largest just under 500,000 (Dublin City). Geographically, some of them might be a bit loose, but motor tax and planning and the likes are all likely to go online within a few years and trips to county hall will become redundant.

Tremelo wrote:

• Delivery of DART Underground and Metro North

Not a very contentious issue, but I have my doubts about DART Underground. The Luas red line gets you most of the way there already, and if you really need to get from Heuston to Pearse I'd be getting the Luas to Connolly and going over the Butt Bridge either on foot or on the next southbound DART.
In terms of Metro construction, I'm for building 6 lines. Now. We should do this while construction costs are low, get the whole city connected. I'm just not sure if the route is there for DART Underground, does it not make the red Luas redundant? Or vice versa?

Amtmann

upmeath wrote: »

Not a very contentious issue, but I have my doubts about DART Underground. The Luas red line gets you most of the way there already, and if you really need to get from Heuston to Pearse I'd be getting the Luas to Connolly and going over the Butt Bridge either on foot or on the next southbound DART.
In terms of Metro construction, I'm for building 6 lines. Now. We should do this while construction costs are low, get the whole city connected. I'm just not sure if the route is there for DART Underground, does it not make the red Luas redundant? Or vice versa?

Come into my parlour...

bradlente

The big minister pensions need to be drastically reduced,along with the ability to still hold other pensions at the same time.Also TD pay should be reduced a bit,with expense accounts cut a lot too.None of this chauffeur nonsense either.

SW needs to be a cut a good bit,Hopefully not necessarily soon but in the long run it needs to be about 5/8's of what it is I'd say,tbh thats a number I just picked and assume would be fair if the economy was in a stable situation and there were any jobs available.Maybe a target for 5-6 years time.

Rent allowance needs to either go altogether or be heavily cut.I honestly don't understand its purpose as a benefit to a tenant or to the government,If someone wants to fill me in please do:)

The public sector seems a right mess.The ruthless way would be go at it with a hatchet and cut left right and centre.I'd say just look at it from the top down,The big earners who have been in there for years can take big cuts or bigger taxes,if they don't like that then there out on their ear.I'm not a "tax the the rich" enthusiast but I think big earners in the public sector who have been big earners for a long time now need a BIG cut.Croke Park needs to be scrapped.

Everyone who benefited from the bailout,and involved in it,from investment bankers to property developers should have each of their cases individually analysed as regards to what deals they did where and with whom,and a special branch of gardai should be implemented to investigate EVERYONE involved,from politicians to the lad you bought your house off down the estate agents.We might not be able to get accountability from the many different parties across Europe who contributed to the demise of the economy but we damn sure need to get it from the people involved here who knew what they were doing was wrong.

All of that seems fairly basic to me and are the bare essentials of what should be looked at.I know theres plenty of other issues that need scrutiny,like electoral and legislative reform(more referendums with online interaction like Canada?)but these are the issues I feel I can relate to more right now.

poker head

TheInquisitor wrote: »

I thought it would be interesting to get people to post 10 of their political views and the top five being the ones that matter the most to them.

1:) I am pro nuclear energy. Preferably 2-4 small plants so if any go offline the others can pick up the slack.

2:) I think public sector wages are still too high.

3:) The semi states are a disgrace. The wages paid are utter madness. The waste is unbelievable. I would want to bring in someone from outside the companies and link their wages and bonuses to savings. If they earn 2-3 million fair enough as long as they save 10 times that amount.

4:) I am pro the legalisation of drugs. The war on drugs has been going on for 30 years and we are in a worse positition now than ever. At least out in the open we can control the quality and tax them.

5:) Business rates need to come down dramatically

6:) Im open to the possibility of food stamps or something like that so people on social welfare can't spend any money on drink or smokes.

7:) Prison sentences in this country are absolutely crazy. If you get 5-10 convictions you should be getting min 2 years in prison so thats why im also for the building of more jails.

8:) I think its good that the minimum wage was dropped by a Euro. Simply compare the Irish and English minimum wages and there isn't any other option

9:) I think Irish should continue to be mandatory.

10:) AND GET RID OF THE BLOODY AIR TAX!!

cabon tax?

nesf

upmeath wrote: »

Pro-water charges Discourage waste but don't burden householders, a small fixed annual sum would do the job.

A fixed annual sum would not achieve your objective because it would not discourage overuse of water. Metered charges (preferably coupled with a decent amount of "free" water [we pay for it through tax anyway]) would be the only option if you want to actually reduce water wastage.

A fixed sum would be a lot cheaper to implement but would not do anything to reduce usage unfortunately.

nesf

Short list based on general points:

• List system for all seats.
• Smaller public sector along with lower taxes (you can't have one without the other!)
• Fiscal conservatism and a commitment to balanced budgets and forward fiscal planning.
• Balanced investment policy focussing factory placement around major urban centres.
• Greater support for those with mental illness. (The selfishly biased one for me!)
• More socially progressive attitudes by Government. Pushing the boundaries more with referendums on social issues.
• Greater involvement with SME sector. Greater encouragement of entrepreneurs to start businesses. Government shouldn't try to pick winners!
• Pro-nuclear. Pro-connection to continent. Pro-wind/wave.
• More regulated asset markets (read: property sector) to try and minimise bubbles.

mike65

Tremelo wrote: »

Set a target to grow the population of Cork City by 100,000, Limerick by 50,000 and Galway by 50,000 and connect these by motorway

Can't disagree with that list but curious about the highlighted policy, seting targets for a population centre seems somewhat pointless esp in a country where said cities are a proverbial stones throw from each other, with reference to that point why seek to grow Limerick and Galway who are cheek by jowl and not even mention Waterford which has the South East to itself? The policy needs to be consistent even if its a wrong policy

Ghost Estate

Topper Harley01 wrote: »

[*]Abolish cash-all money to be digital i.e. credit/debit cards.

Why? have you something against the idea of being able to buy stuff anonymously?

TheInquisitor

poker head wrote: »

cabon tax?

What? I was talking about the Air Travel Tax?

mike65

I guess its a safety/crime/cost issue, using cash is expensive in all sorts of ways.

analucija

- I support FG public sector cuts
- Some sort of universal health insurance
- I really like FF electoral reform (and know that they have no intention implementing it)
-Church should stay out of state schools, any religious classes should be done outside state school program (that includes educate together)
- don't care about gay marriage (civil partnership offers enough legal protection) but they should be allowed to adopt children
- pro abortion
- reduction of funding to state boards or abolition of state boards
- FG's policy on welfare makes sense to me
- yes for third level fees but only if it improves education

Ghost Estate

*Constitutional amendment to ban recurring tax on the family home (to include stuff like the 'septic tank tax' the greens wanted)

*Abolish the carbon tax

*Build one decent size nuclear power plant for base-load usage and a lot more renewable generation such as hydro, wind turbines. Shut down as many coal and oil fired power stations as we can. Keep peat burning stations but use only for backup.

*Re-open Waterford to Rosslare line and as many other railway lines as possible, allow for private freight traffic. Free travel for everyone

*Leave EU but stay in EEA

*Move timezone to UTC-1, abolish daylight saving time

*Give incentive for manufacturing electric cars in Ireland, its a shame that no cars are made here.

*Use ghost estates for council housing, sell the rest off really cheap.

*Huge emphasis on civil liberties: remove government/council owned cameras, regulate their usage on private ground, remove ISP logging requirements, ban deep packet inspection.

*Start a new state owned non-profit mobile phone company with LTE (foreign owned mobile phone networks do nothing for the economy). Aim to eventually make it a community run decentralised network.

*Sell RTE

*Reduce dole, minimum wage further.

Reilly616

analucija wrote: »

- don't care about gay marriage (civil partnership offers enough legal protection)

It sounds very much like you haven't read the 2010 Act!

sink

Social liberalism
Secularism
Supranationalism

analucija

wrote: »

It sounds very much like you haven't read the 2010 Act!

Could be. For the record, I don't get the fuss around marriage in general. Right to adopt would change peoples lives a lot more than dressing as meringue for a day and getting drunk. That's why I don't see any point of having referendum on gay marriages but there should be a referendum (or legislation) on the right to adopt.

Killer Pigeon

I'm in Labour.

Therefore I don't have any political views or policies.

Reilly616

analucija wrote: »

Could be. For the record, I don't get the fuss around marriage in general. Right to adopt would change peoples lives a lot more than dressing as meringue for a day and getting drunk. That's why I don't see any point of having referendum on gay marriages but there should be a referendum (or legislation) on the right to adopt.

It's because of the rights that go along with it. If you give gay people a special lesser form of marriage, with only about half the rights as exist in opposite-sex marriage, then you're discriminating for no good reason. The right to adopt is actually far more contentious here than gay marriage (which is supported by 2/3 of the population).

barclay2

Pro-environment policies save money in the long run, they are not a net cost to the economy. Introduce water meters, invest in indigenous renewable energy, prioritize public transport, introduce strict climate change legislation.

Strengthen competition in any areas that don't have it e.g. the bus market in Dublin and around the country, garbage disposal, - and strengthen the capacity of the competition authority to tackle price-fixing.

Third-level education should be co-funded by the taxpayer and those who attend third-level - the contribution from the latter should increase for those from medium to high-income families (higher income background should mean higher fees).

Strengthen local government so TD's can focus on national issues. Empowered local authorities, an elected mayor for Dublin.

An Ghaeilge sa scoil: Ba chóir go mbeadh an scrúdú béil éigeantach san árteist agus an scúdú scriofa roghnach.

I could go on and on but they're the first ones that came to my mind right now.

PinPin

1. My most severe belief is the reintroduction of a death penalty for severe crimes such as rapists, murders and child molesters.

2. More prisons and more harsher prison sentences. Prison life should also be harsher. That means criminals should have no interaction with the outside world and be on permanent lock down with no interaction with other prisoners. It's harsh but prison has to be a deterrent.

3. Launch an anti-crime campaign similar to the one used to reduce the IRA's support in the south in the 1930's.

4. Anti-nuclear power. We should rely almost exclusively on renewable energy. This is to make Ireland more independent. This will insulate Ireland in the event of a global crisis. That means we will still be able to function and operate in the event we cannot import coal,gas,oils,isotopes.

5. I support abortion if the woman wants it.

6. More Gardai and keep the Gardai as an unarmed police force.

7. I do not support the reduction of TD's. Instead I think the Dail should be given a set budget and that will be divided equally among the elected TD's. The more TD's the lower their pay will be.This ensures that people will receive the representation they reserve. Ministers would not receive a pension until they actually reach retirement age.

8. Introduction of a voucher system to stop people using their Social Welfare payments to buy booze, drugs and superfluous expenses. These would not be transferable as all the info would be on a type of credit card that would require signatures and if possible finger print verification. :pac:

9. State assets should not be sold. Theses are vital for the efficient running of the country and should remain strategic resources in Government hands.

10. Introduction of university fees in the form of deferred payment. I personally want education to be free but at the moment that is not possible. Maybe bring in free uni education a few years down the line when the country has recovered. For now everyone should pay back the government on a loan like scheme, where those that are wealthy pay up front.

11. Make Irish an optional subject in the Leaving certificate exam.

analucija

Reilly616 wrote: »

It's because of the rights that go along with it. If you give gay people a special lesser form of marriage, with only about half the rights as exist in opposite-sex marriage, then you're discriminating for no good reason. The right to adopt is actually far more contentious here than gay marriage (which is supported by 2/3 of the population).

I am aware of all that. I'm happily living in sin and maybe that's part of the reason that I don't consider marriage that important. I just think that concentrating on gay marriage is going for the easy option and i would like to see party that would stand for a little bit more than focus group approved policies. (I'm talking proper parties here not leftovers).

jdooley28

TheInquisitor wrote: »

I thought it would be interesting to get people to post 10 of their political views and the top five being the ones that matter the most to them.

1:) I am pro nuclear energy. Preferably 2-4 small plants so if any go offline the others can pick up the slack.

2:) I think public sector wages are still too high.

3:) The semi states are a disgrace. The wages paid are utter madness. The waste is unbelievable. I would want to bring in someone from outside the companies and link their wages and bonuses to savings. If they earn 2-3 million fair enough as long as they save 10 times that amount.

4:) I am pro the legalisation of drugs. The war on drugs has been going on for 30 years and we are in a worse positition now than ever. At least out in the open we can control the quality and tax them.

5:) Business rates need to come down dramatically

6:) Im open to the possibility of food stamps or something like that so people on social welfare can't spend any money on drink or smokes.

7:) Prison sentences in this country are absolutely crazy. If you get 5-10 convictions you should be getting min 2 years in prison so thats why im also for the building of more jails.

8:) I think its good that the minimum wage was dropped by a Euro. Simply compare the Irish and English minimum wages and there isn't any other option

9:) I think Irish should continue to be mandatory.

10:) AND GET RID OF THE BLOODY AIR TAX!!

Nothing against nuclear power but where would get money for such an investment

Maybe but i'm unsure how much public servants at the lower end of the pay scale can afford to lose.

Sounds good in theory.

agreed.

agreed.

If people are given a welfare payment it should be at their discretion how they choose to spend it.

If we were to give longer sentences we would need the irish prison system to become much more effecient we simply can't afford to detain more prisoners at current costs.

agreed.

absolutley disagree.

I actually have no idea how much revenue is gained from the airtax and how tourism we lose out because of it so i can't really say.

upmeath

This thread is almost therapeutic! I'm learning a lot more about myself in the process of expressing my views here. I'm probably not the only one. I'll keep contributing more views as they come to me...

Pro-Turkish EU membership as soon as they acknowledge the wrongdoing that was the Armenian genocide and sort out any other human rights anomalies they may have. I think having a majority Muslim state in the EU might show extremist Islamists what they're capable of achieving through democracy. Turkey might also provide a vital middle man in diplomatic circles. And as a strictly secular state, our boyo's could learn a thing or two from them Re:blasphemy laws
The state should cultivate the Atlantic shelf on behalf of the Irish people. Norway's share of the North Sea has done them a lot of good, I don't see why Ireland should give first preference to Norwegian or Dutch state oil companies when it comes to handling our own natural resources.
Pro-Metro for Dublin The current plan is tame and should be extended - Prague has three metro lines, all of which cross at some point at or near the centre of town. A simple metro, three lines, one red, one green, one yellow, but it makes the city infinitely more people-friendly. No need for a 12 line London Tube or Parisien Métro just yet. If we made three simple routes from Dublin Airport to Tallaght/Bray to Blanchardstown/Lucan to Ringsend the city would shrink overnight, cars would disappear off our streets, Dublin would be a fully-functioning world city instead of a traffic jam.

sarahisainmdom

1.) Anyone but Fine Gael.
2.) Don't make Irish optional for the Leavnig Cert - focus on actually improving the standard of teaching Irish at second (and primary) level(s).

thetonynator

Topper Harley01 wrote: »

In no particular order, I promise the electorate:


[*]Building of bridge to UK, and high speed maglev train direct to London. Encouragement of British national to live in Dublin, work in UK to encourage property market. Tax relief status for first 2 years.

More or less impossible, a tunnel is possible but very expensive. Commuting to UK certainly not viable, as only near parts of Wales could be possibly commuted to be high speed train, and west wales isn't famous for its massive employment.


You had some good very points in there, but some nonsense as well!

Daniel S

I believe in totalitarianism:
1. Firstly, we should sell all scoabs' to some other country that might need them, preferably for slavery so they don't find a way back. (TBH, if we can just get rid of them and not sell them, that could do instead)
2. We should be allowed carry L96's as long as we keep them well hidden in our pockets.
3. Ban Diesel.
4. Shoot anyone with a "v" haircut. Or even someone with bleach in it.
5. Box to the face if you say "Boi!" "Quaaare!" "A Boi de Kid!" "Come 'ere to me you now!" or "I'll hop ur head off a wall!"
6. Go up to Mr. IMF and tell him "We're not payin', what you gonna do 'bout it!"
7. Read number 8.
8. We should have a strong leaders like Enda Kenny... Míchéal Martin... Eamon Gilmore... Rubberbandits.
9. Remove bandwidth allowances on my feckin' "broadband".
10. Allow dogs in pubs/restraunts.

As for the economy, we could get everyone to make scoobies and sell 'em for profit.


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On a serious note:
I'd say Fine Gael. (I'd like a Labour/Fine Gael coalition though.)

1. Split Irish between language (compulsary) and literature (optional)
2. Sell off companies.
3. Balancing the books as a priority.
4. Focus more on Engineering.
5. Manufacture for premium products, no point of trying to sell cheap things when the company will just relocate to Asia or somewhere cheaper.
6. Lower minumum wage to western EU average, but take into account our higher cost of living.

thetonynator

mtb_kng wrote: »

5. Box to the face if you say "Boi!" "Quaaare!" "A Boi de Kid!" "Come 'ere to me you now!" or "I'll hop ur head off a wall!"


8. We should have a strong leaders like Enda Kenny... Míchéal Martin... Eamon Gilmore... Rubberbandits.

NUmbers 5 and 8 contradict each other . . .:P