The controversial professor - Ed Walsh

Lapin

He seems to be getting a lot of airtime recently (especially on Newstalk) to offer his opinion the state of the nation.

I agree with a lot of what he says but I question if he is the right person to say it while he continues to reside in his ivory tower.

Its difficult to take him seriously when he calls for cuts in the minimum wage and and the salaries of professionals when he enjoyed an inflated salary himself, and continues to receive a generous pension.

But I think his ideas to reform public sector spending have their merits.


Ed Walsh - National Treasure or National Troll ?

prospect

I heard him there a few minutes ago, and to be fair he did say PS pensions, including his own' should be cut.

tayto lover

Its all very fine for rich professors to advocate reductions in poorer peoples working and living conditions and Ed is no different to many of them. I am still waiting for someone to suggest that the Government take 10% out of all peoples bank accounts. The rich would then suffer as much as the less well-off.

Tipp Man

tayto lover wrote: »

Its all very fine for rich professors to advocate reductions in poorer peoples working and living conditions and Ed is no different to many of them. I am still waiting for someone to suggest that the Government take 10% out of all peoples bank accounts. The rich would then suffer as much as the less well-off.

so you are advocating robbery then??

Tipp Man

Not very popular with the PS or unions after he highlighted huge potential saving by benchmarking PS pay and social welfare to Northern Ireland levels. The savings are huge according to him

Also not popular for saying that most of the PS is overpaid.

He doesn't get half enough recognition in my opinion

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/mapping-a-slump-dr-ed-walsh-urges-radical-action-2382238.html

tayto lover

I am not advocating robbery at all but is that not what is happening to every taxpayer in the country directly or indirectly ?

Unshelved

According to Breda O'Brien, in the Irish Times (24/10/2009), in 1970 when Ed Walsh was setting up the NIHE in Limerick (now the University of Limerick) his salary was €4,000pa or a whopping 80% of the entire budget available for the NIHE. .

To give you an idea what that was worth then, my parents bought their house for €4,000 in 1970.

So he can shove his PS bashing up is a*se.

tayto lover

Unshelved wrote: »

According to Breda O'Brien, in the Irish Times (24/10/2009), in 1970 when Ed Walsh was setting up the NIHE in Limerick (now the University of Limerick) his salary was €4,000pa or a whopping 80% of the entire budget available for the NIHE. .

To give you an idea what that was worth then, my parents bought their house for €4,000 in 1970.

So he can shove his PS bashing up is a*se.

I agree. Where were all these so-called experts when things were going well? Creaming it and not a word out of them. I saw this guy on Questions & Answers years ago spouting the opposite view to what he says now.
Some people are taken in so easily and have no minds of their own. This man works for the Government and will spout their propaganda.

DJCR

tayto lover wrote: »

Its all very fine for rich professors to advocate reductions in poorer peoples working and living conditions and Ed is no different to many of them. I am still waiting for someone to suggest that the Government take 10% out of all peoples bank accounts. The rich would then suffer as much as the less well-off.

To be fair, the poor would suffer more as the 10% they lose would be more valuable to them than the 10% that the "rich" would lose.

Comparatively speaking, while the rich person may pay more monetarily the effect it would have on their life would be less than that of someone with less money who are already struggling to survive.

Newstalk liked what he had to say so much yesterday, that during the repeat show after midnight, they played the interview twice, back-to-back.

No agenda there with Newstalk. :rolleyes:

later12

salonfire wrote: »

Newstalk liked what he had to say so much yesterday, that during the repeat show after midnight, they played the interview twice, back-to-back.

No agenda there with Newstalk. :rolleyes:

Inception. They were trying to infiltrate the sleep of the listenership.

Silentcorner

tayto lover wrote: »

I agree. Where were all these so-called experts when things were going well? Creaming it and not a word out of them. I saw this guy on Questions & Answers years ago spouting the opposite view to what he says now.
Some people are taken in so easily and have no minds of their own. This man works for the Government and will spout their propaganda.

If you believe this man speaks for the government think again, he gave a presentation in Limerick back in february, over an hour long which he put a lot of preperation into, to people he didn't know, in his own spare time without asking for a cent, he is a gent who happens to be an intellect, a high achiever, and a person who deserves to be reaping the rewards of a successful career, how anyone can have a problem with him is truly beyond me.

The presentation was excellent, our system contains too much waste, we have invested too much money with little return ( education and health in particular ) our ps is paid too much. How is that controversial?

And to the person who questioned his wage in NIHE I say take a look at the UL campus, he was worth every penny. Unlike our esteemed politicians and members of ps he has walked the walk.

If you don't like what he has to say then disagree with him, but his integrity can't be questioned

RDM_83 again

Silentcorner wrote: »

And to the person who questioned his wage in NIHE I say take a look at the UL campus, he was worth every penny. Unlike our esteemed politicians and members of ps he has walked the walk.

If you don't like what he has to say then disagree with him, but his integrity can't be questioned

That wasn't his work though! it was Chuck Feeney who we'd all probably know a lot more about in Ireland if the Centre for Public Inquiry had gone ahead (and we'd probably be much better of considering, damn McDowell!)

Silentcorner

RDM_83 again wrote: »

That wasn't his work though! it was Chuck Feeney who we'd all probably know a lot more about in Ireland if the Centre for Public Inquiry had gone ahead (and we'd probably be much better of considering, damn McDowell!)

Not true, Chuck Feeney was a massive contributor to the NIHE, through contact that was made by Mr Walsh, who proved himself to be a prolific fundraiser which in turn allowed the university to be transformed over a twenty year period, but it cannot be argued that the funds he received were well spent

RDM_83 again

Silentcorner wrote: »

Not true, Chuck Feeney was a massive contributor to the NIHE, through contact that was made by Mr Walsh, who proved himself to be a prolific fundraiser which in turn allowed the university to be transformed over a twenty year period, but it cannot be argued that the funds he received were well spent

My point was that what would he have achieved if he hadn't had a chance* encounter with a billionaire philanthropist? also are you saying that he didn't spend the money well?


* according to this biography i think. " Conor O'Clery, The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune Without Anyone Knowing"

Silentcorner

RDM_83 again wrote: »

My point was that what would he have achieved if he hadn't had a chance* encounter with a billionaire philanthropist? also are you saying that he didn't spend the money well?


* according to this biography i think. " Conor O'Clery, The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune Without Anyone Knowing"

I am simply saying that he left UL in a far better state than was there when he arrived, he was in charge, sure he got a lucky break meeting Chuck Feeney...ever notice how the talented ones always seem to get a lucky break? he would have been responsible if he squandered money, he didn't therefore he deserves the trappings of success. Therefore he could teach our politicians and ps a thing or two about how not to waste money, which he does free of charge, and then gets his integrity questioned by people who probably haven't achieved what he has achieved

I don't wish to get dragged into a pointless arguement about UL, I simply believe that there are people in this country ( Ed Walsh is one of them ) who can offer expertise ( their track record is public knowledge so credibility wouldn't be an issue ) like I said you don't have to agree with him but it is simply not fair to question his integrity