Fintan does Dallas

PeterIanStaker

Time to remember all those promises

Do you recall all that stuff about standing up to Frankfurt and making bondholders pay? Just a weird dream and the same old shower, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE

FAREWELL, THEN, to the shortest government in the history of the State, the government of hope that lasted for all of three weeks.
Readers of a certain vintage will remember the moment in Dallas when Pam Ewing awoke from uneasy dreams to the sound of someone in the shower. Who should emerge but her husband, Bobby, who had been dead for the whole of the previous season? He smiled and she realised that all those overwrought episodes had been a horrible nightmare.
Last week, Cathleen ní Houlihan woke to the sound of the shower. Who should emerge but Fianna Fáil? The election? All that stuff about standing up to Frankfurt and making bondholders take some of the pain? Just a weird dream. Pretend it never happened. To all intents and purposes, Brian Lenihan is still minister for finance. His catastrophic policies are to be continued, with barely an apology for the brief interruption during which we had the illusion of democracy.

....

Michael Noonan sounded weirdly upbeat as he announced the capitulation to policies he and his colleagues know to be insane. That’s surely because he knows the political price will be paid by Labour. Eamon Gilmore’s strange silence on the biggest U-turn in his party’s history suggests that he knows it too.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0405/1224293869052.html

Thoughts?

Godge

Thoughts?

Surprised it took him so long to find a reason to turn on the new Government. Why didn't he stand for election when he had the chance if he had all the answers. Like Dunphy and the others who backed out, they can't cry now.

Scofflaw

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0405/1224293869052.html

Thoughts?

My thoughts are: (1) copyright; and (2) where's your opinion?

moderately,
Scofflaw

PeterIanStaker

Scofflaw wrote: »

My thoughts are: (1) copyright; and (2) where's your opinion?

moderately,
Scofflaw

People share newspaper articles on sites all the time.
And as for my opinion, I do think he's made good points here, but should have run for the Dáil, but instead we get chancers like Lowry.:rolleyes:

RichardAnd

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

People share newspaper articles on sites all the time.
And as for my opinion, I do think he's made good points here, but should have run for the Dáil, but instead we get chancers like Lowry.:rolleyes:

Why should he run for the dail? Politics is a career built off stabbing people in the back and telling half truths on everything. That's not a life many would enjoy.

Scofflaw

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

People share newspaper articles on sites all the time.

Indeed, and it's the tedious job of whoever is responsible to remind those who do it that copyright applies. One can, as they say, ignore the law, but one cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring the law.

moderately,
Scofflaw

PeterIanStaker

RichardAnd wrote: »

Why should he run for the dail? Politics is a career built off stabbing people in the back and telling half truths on everything. That's not a life many would enjoy.

I suggested that he should have considered running for election because he would have been an alternative to the tired old parties. I would have preferred him, and a technical group of economists/business people in the Dáil, but instead we have a technical group of assorted Idunnowhats.

beeftotheheels

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

I suggested that he should have considered running for election because he would have been an alternative to the tired old parties. I would have preferred him, and a technical group of economists/business people in the Dáil, but instead we have a technical group of assorted Idunnowhats.

I'm curious, is he to be viewed as an economist or a business person?

PeterIanStaker

beeftotheheels wrote: »

I'm curious, is he to be viewed as an economist or a business person?

What I meant was that he would have been an asset to a tech group consisting of Sommerville & Ross (pun definitely intended) and others of similar calibre, as he would have the verbal skill and the "credibility", if that's the right word, to remind the public of the mess the last govt made, and the mess the current one is destined to make.

All pure speculation on my part though.

beeftotheheels

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

What I meant was that he would have been an asset to a tech group consisting of Sommerville & Ross (pun definitely intended) and others of similar calibre, as he would have the verbal skill and the "credibility", if that's the right word, to remind the public of the mess the last govt made, and the mess the current one is destined to make.

All pure speculation on my part though.

Was never much good at maths, especially quadratic equations but is the formula as follows;

drama critic x self important economist = Saviour?

PeterIanStaker

beeftotheheels wrote: »

Was never much good at maths, especially quadratic equations but is the formula as follows;

drama critic x self important economist = Saviour?

FG + Labour - €85Bn x 5 years + default = Fianna Fail back in govt next election.

beeftotheheels

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

FG + Labour - €85Bn x 5 years + default = Fianna Fail back in govt next election.

and while I agree that that is a scary equation I fail to see how FO'T running would have altered it?

Muppets are muppets be they politicians or journalists.

PeterIanStaker

beeftotheheels wrote: »

and while I agree that that is a scary equation I fail to see how FO'T running would have altered it?

Muppets are muppets be they politicians or journalists.

I'm not trying to say he would have made a difference. I just had a notion he would have made things interesting for a few weeks anyway.

Sand

Fintan O'Toole strikes me as an individual who has never had to make a consequential decision in his life. It always seems to Fintan theres a clear-cut, painless, moral alternative to whatever position he is criticising. And itd probably cut down on Ireland CO2 emissions and pay for itself through eco-tourism in 10 years on top of that.

I find, like most Irish political critics, his anti-establishment views are undermined by his wish to be in with the trade unions/Labour/Irish caviar socialism. When the trade unions are the establishment, its pretty hard to be trendy, lefty and anti-establishment. Fintan is criticising the government for not taking radical action. I agree - but Fine Gael/Labours logic is perfectly understandable: They have said it time and again when challenged on their about face in power: They want to pay the public sector - thats the top priority of this country, to ensure the public sector are taken care of. Everything else is secondary. And to keep the public sector and civil servants in style, that means borrowing. And borrowing means accepting whatever terms the EU/ECB imposes on us because no one else is lending to us. An alcoholic cant stand up to a barman when he still wants to be served.

To take the sort of radical action Fintan wants to see on banking debts would require truly radical action on the public sector and social welfare in this country. Fintan would never approve of truly radical action on the public sector, nor social welfare as it would offend his trendy lefty views. He is being a hypocrite in that he criticises the decisions required to support the public sector.

When Fintan is publically calling for necessary cuts in public spending that are needed, then he can honestly call for Ireland to stand up to the EU/ECB as well. Until then he should stop trying to be all things to all men.

20Cent

O'Toole is really the only commentator telling it like it is at the moment. Myers is turning into Gerry Springer.

later12

The problem with Fintan O'Toole's journalism is that it is quasi factual, quasi entertainment. Anyone who enjoys writing will tell you that in the perfectly legitimate desire to be funny, entertaining and fascinating in the eyes of Madam Editor or Joe Public, one must exhibit these little creative flourishes. Fintan's Pam Ewing/ Bobby in the shower analogy is perfect.

It doesn't matter if it isn't entirely appropriate in fact, it doesn't matter if it is a bit unbalanced, it is a convenient, simple and humorous analogy which gropes in the dark at the popular sentiment.

Sometimes it isn't a journalist's job to tell the reader what is new or what is fact, in Fintan O'Toole's case, as in many op-eds, the point is simply to shine a light on the reader's own opinion, however off-balance that may be.

PeterIanStaker

20Cent wrote: »

O'Toole is really the only commentator telling it like it is at the moment. Myers is turning into Gerry Springer.

Thats an insult to Springer :pac: