All Queen visit related discussion goes here.

end a eknny

galwayrush wrote: »

I remember it well, a country finally being steered in the right direction, only for FF to blow it all in a few years of Megalomaniac type madness.
All that wasted money, projects costing way more than their initial budgets.

f.f give the people what they wanted the same as the banks give them what they wanted unfortuantely what they wanted and what they could afford where two different things so now its payback time

gigino

end a eknny wrote: »

is this the same f.f that changed the road network from dangerous dirt tracks with grass growing up the middle of them with 20 year old cars with no test. to one with brand new cars on spanking new motorways

The main roads had not grass growing up the middle of them 20 years ago.
Yes, massive EC structural funds and the hundreds of borrowed billions have transformed Ireland from what it otherwise would still be. But apart from that what have we built or done in 100 years ? As said before "O'Connell street has changed, we made it worse by putting up a needle in the sky to match the junkie + sex shop image. The countryside has changed with ghost estates. Many of the old railways etc closed. Harbours silted up. Many shops closed. Banks bust." Have f.f. really been that great ?
At least the British built everything of note here ( to quote that visiting Italian academic ), left it here ( they even cleaned the snooker tables in the army barracks just before they left ) and you cannot blame them for the way ff left the country in debt for the next ...what 100 years ?
Last year Germany finished paying its WW1 loans / debts off.

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

The main roads had not grass growing up the middle of them 20 years ago.
Yes, massive EC structural funds and the hundreds of borrowed billions have transformed Ireland from what it otherwise would still be. But apart from that what have we built or done in 100 years ? As said before "O'Connell street has changed, we made it worse by putting up a needle in the sky to match the junkie + sex shop image. The countryside has changed with ghost estates. Many of the old railways etc closed. Harbours silted up. Many shops closed. Banks bust." Have f.f. really been that great ?
At least the British built everything of note here ( to quote that visiting Italian academic ), left it here ( they even cleaned the snooker tables in the army barracks just before they left ) and you cannot blame them for the way ff left the country in debt for the next ...what 100 years ?
Last year Germany finished paying its WW1 loans / debts off.

Has that record not been worn through yet?

Whats wrong with sex shops, btw?

Liam Byrne

end a eknny wrote: »

f.f give the people what they wanted the same as the banks give them what they wanted unfortuantely what they wanted and what they could afford where two different things so now its payback time

Bull.

I never wanted what FF were offering and while yes, it's payback time, FF have ensured that I have to pay back other people's debts and as a result of that can barely pay back the ones that I budgetted accurately and conservatively for.

Mind you, that's heading off-topic, so I'll leave it there. Just had to correct your post.

gigino

Nodin wrote: »

Whats wrong with sex shops, btw?

nothing wrong with a sex shop - like Anne Summers - on the main street of a capital city, where families visit etc ? Perhaps you could think of a more appropriate shop ? No, on second thoughts you could not. It reminds me of Bangkok except the streets in Bangkok are cleaner lol.:D, and their sex shops are not foreign owned.

Incidentally the planning behind O'Connell st ( or Sackville street as I think it was named by those who made it ) meant it was ( is still ? ) the widest main street in Europe. If it had'nt the spike in the sky but Nelsons column would'nt that at least have been a bit of a tourist attraction, like the statue of Liberty is ? Never heard of anyone coming to see the spike...and its hard to get a decent photo of it. Was there a staircase inside the column ?

Thinking of the city centre, did'nt it look great behind Obama ? Hard to beat the architecture in places like College Green...maybe we should have put him in front of an Irish building built since independence ? ehhhh civic offices ughhh , ehhh Busaras ugggh , eh ghost estate in ballygobackwards ughh.

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

nothing wrong with a sex shop - like Anne Summers - on the main street of a capital city, where families visit etc ?
.

So you think sex is something that should be hidden away in a back street somewhere?

Weren't you recommending Britain as

a more tolerant, pluralistic place

there a while back?

Seems to me a bit of a contradiction.

gigino wrote: »

Perhaps you could think of a more appropriate shop ? No, on second thoughts you could not. It reminds me of Bangkok except the streets in Bangkok are cleaner lol.:D, and their sex shops are not foreign owned.
.

The streets of bangkok are not actually notorious for Ann Summers style sex shops.

gigino wrote: »

Incidentally the planning ..........estate in ballygobackwards ughh.

O Look, the same old spiel again.

K-9

gigino wrote: »

nothing wrong with a sex shop - like Anne Summers - on the main street of a capital city, where families visit etc ? Perhaps you could think of a more appropriate shop ? No, on second thoughts you could not. It reminds me of Bangkok except the streets in Bangkok are cleaner lol.:D, and their sex shops are not foreign owned.

Incidentally the planning behind O'Connell st ( or Sackville street as I think it was named by those who made it ) meant it was ( is still ? ) the widest main street in Europe. If it had'nt the spike in the sky but Nelsons column would'nt that at least have been a bit of a tourist attraction, like the statue of Liberty is ? Never heard of anyone coming to see the spike...and its hard to get a decent photo of it. Was there a staircase inside the column ?

Thinking of the city centre, did'nt it look great behind Obama ? Hard to beat the architecture in places like College Green...maybe we should have put him in front of an Irish building built since independence ? ehhhh civic offices ughhh , ehhh Busaras ugggh , eh ghost estate in ballygobackwards ughh.

Isn't Anne Summers British though?

Nodin

K-9 wrote: »

Isn't Anne Summers British though?

Jimmmy Gigino is only using her to bash the paddies. I'm sure hes nothing against the woman personally.

gigino

Nodin wrote: »

So you think sex is something that should be hidden away in a back street somewhere?

We are not talking about sex , I was referring to the sex shop on the main street of our capital city. Still, I see in the papers at least it made money last year, unlike a lot of shops in Ireland.
I'm sure you think it appropriate a foreign owned sex shop on the main street, near the syringe in the sky to symbolise the nearby junkies.

Nodin wrote: »

The streets of bangkok are not actually notorious for Ann Summers style sex shops.

My point entirely. Go to Sydney Opera house or the Champs Elysses and they do not have a syringe spike in the sky + associated junkies beside a sex shop on the main street either.

K-9

Nodin wrote: »

Jimmmy Gigino is only using her to bash the paddies. I'm sure hes nothing against the woman personally.

That's the idea isn't it? There doesn't need to be a he?

Anyway:

Ireland visit 'brilliant', says Queen | BreakingNews.ie

She'd a "brilliant time" from the horse's mouth.

Pun away!

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

We are not talking about sex , I was referring to the sex shop on the main street of our capital city. .

And whats the problem with a "sex shop" on the main street? Would you like it hidden away?

I asked earlier - You earlier recommended Britain as

a more tolerant, pluralistic place

yet your attitude would seem to contradict any tolerance or love of pluralism on your part. Why is this?

gigino wrote: »

Still, I see in the papers at least it made money last year, unlike a lot of shops in Ireland.

And your point?

gigino wrote: »

I'm sure you think it appropriate a foreign owned sex shop on the main street, near the syringe in the sky to symbolise the nearby junkies.

You think that there should be no "foreign owned" shops in O'Connell Street? Thats not tolerant or pluralistic either. Are you advocating xenophobia and racism?

gigino wrote: »

My point entirely. Go to Sydney Opera house or the Champs Elysses and they do not have a syringe spike in the sky + associated junkies beside a sex shop on the main street either.

Dear o dear....

The statistics were released days after a senior police official warned that the Champs-Elysees -- long seen as the epitome of Paris chic -- has become a hub for violent crime, prostitution and racketeering.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jl9PTNowW1fwAMjPXxStO_PJDu-Q

sensibleken

Nodin wrote: »

Dear o dear....


http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jl9PTNowW1fwAMjPXxStO_PJDu-Q

pfft. you and your facts and reasoned arguement! fact checking is so 1980s

gigino

Nodin wrote: »

And whats the problem with a "sex shop" on the main street?

Need you ask ? Ask the toursists with kids are they impressed with a dirty main street with fast food restaurants, sex shop, junkies, pickpockets , beggars and....the shining centrepiece, the needle in the sky.:D;)

Nodin wrote: »

I asked earlier - You earlier recommended Britain as ...

No I did not "recommend anywhere.

gigino

Nodin wrote: »

You think that there should be no "foreign owned" shops in O'Connell Street?

Every day I shop in a foreign owned shop because it gives the best value and quality. Most of the turnover in the countries retail is done by foreign owned shops. No harm in that. Would you like Anne Summers to open another sex shop on the main street in Killarney, next to McDonalds there...and a spire built there too instead of a historical monument, so junkies can hang out with their little needles beside the big needle ?

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

Need you ask(............).the shining centrepiece, the needle in the sky..

gigino wrote: »

Would you like Anne Summers to open another sex shop on the main street in Killarney, next to McDonalds there..

Rhetoric and smilies. Deadly.

Now try again -

Whats the problem with a "sex shop" on the main street? Would you like it hidden away? And remember, I'm asking you, Jimmmy gigino.

gigino wrote: »

Every day I shop in a foreign owned shop because it gives the best value and quality. Most of the turnover in the countries retail is done by foreign owned shops. No harm in that...

...but you stated

I'm sure you think it appropriate a foreign owned sex shop on the main street

........so clearly you have a problem with foriegn owned businesses. Why?

gigino

Nodin wrote: »

Now try again -

no, you try again. . You answer the question, And when you are at it, it is considered very bad form to edit someones elses posts and then quote them, as you have none.

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

no, you try again. . You answer the question, And when you are at it, it is considered very bad form to edit someones elses posts and then quote them, as you have none.

No, it isn't.

You're the one making the statements, you're the one obligated to answer.

Now - explain yourself please. Surely for somebody who keeps repeating the same mantra over and over it can't be that difficult?

old hippy

gigino wrote: »

Every day I shop in a foreign owned shop because it gives the best value and quality. Most of the turnover in the countries retail is done by foreign owned shops. No harm in that. Would you like Anne Summers to open another sex shop on the main street in Killarney, next to McDonalds there...and a spire built there too instead of a historical monument, so junkies can hang out with their little needles beside the big needle ?

There should be a sex shop on every street throughout the land. Might rid us of the stigma that still exists.

And we need more methadone, not heroin.

gigino

Nodin wrote: »

Now - explain yourself please.

I do not think sex shops should be hidden away but I do not think they should ideally be in a prominent position on the main street ( a very historical street and a street that should attract tourists etc ) of our capital city either. In the face of kids on a day out .
Put sex shops in a street other than the main street of the capital.
If you took kids to see the Sydney Opera house you would not expect to see it beside a sex shop + in a street of junkies / beggars etc ?

I have no problem with foreign owned shops, in fact I shop in them the whole time, as everyone else does in Ireland. You seem to have a problem with them as you keep bringing up their ownership ?

Now answer my question - I have answered all of yours ;
"Would you like Anne Summers to open another sex shop on the main street in Killarney, next to McDonalds there...and a spire built there too instead of a historical monument, so junkies can hang out with their little needles beside the big needle ?"

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

I do not think sex shops should be hidden away but I do not think they should ideally be in a prominent position on the main street ( a very historical street and a street that should attract tourists etc ) of our capital city either. In the face of kids on a day out .
Put sex shops in a street other than the main street of the capital.?"

So you think sex is something to be hidden away. Grand.

You realise that other countries are quite relaxed about sex...? That's what you seemed to be lauding earlier. Why do you have a contradictory attitude here?

gigino wrote: »

I
If you took kids to see the Sydney Opera house you would not expect to see it beside a sex shop + in a street of junkies / beggars etc ? .

We've already established that busy areas attract that kind of thing. Are you so ill-informed as to suggest otherwise? Or are you just doing your "repeat ad nauseam" tactic and ignoring any facts to the contrary?

gigino wrote: »

I have no problem with foreign owned shops, in fact I shop in them the whole time, as everyone else does in Ireland. You seem to have a problem with them as you keep bringing up their ownership ? .

It was you who brought up foreign ownership in this post here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=72384506&postcount=2350

Why did you do so?

gigino wrote: »

Now answer my question - I have answered all of yours ;

"Would you like Anne Summers to open another sex shop on the main street in Killarney, next to McDonalds there..

As should be fairly obvious, I've no problem with a "sex shop" - regardless of what brand name its using or its ownership - opening up on the main street of anywhere.

gigino wrote: »

..and a spire built there too instead of a historical monument, so junkies can hang out with their little needles beside the big needle ?"

Why do you keep typing the same thing over and over? Isn't that the kind of thing that got you banned from other fora?

end a eknny

please stop encouraging this fool

Nodin

end a eknny wrote: »

please stop encouraging this fool

O I suppose I shouldn't, but I enjoy exposing him every now and again, paricularily when he's under a new name.

gigino

Nodin wrote: »

You realise that other countries are quite relaxed about sex...?

Many are, thank God. But many are not. That is not the point. Do you think the image of O'Connell street with its sex shop / junkies / beggars etc is a great image of our main street of our capital city, and one Bord Failte should use in advertising more ?

n.b Nodin, I see you still are altering / editing my posts and then quoting them. Thats very poor form.

oh and as regards names, you can call yourself whatever you want. Jimmy whoever he is can speak for himself. And you should stop stalking people.

sensibleken

gigino wrote: »

Many are, thank God. But many are not. That is not the point. Do you think the image of O'Connell street with its sex shop / junkies / beggars etc is a great image of our main street of our capital city, and one Bord Failte should use in advertising more ?

n.b Nodin, I see you still are altering / editing my posts and then quoting them. Thats very poor form.

when have bord failte used pictures of junkies on o'connel street in their ads?

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

Many are, thank God. But many are not. That is not the point. Do you think the image (.........)my posts and then quoting them. Thats very poor form.

Ahhhhh, jimmmy gigino....like a broken record. Not a good record either. Margo.....or maybe Brendan Shine.

gigino

Apologies, typo. Was chatting on phone at same time. Delete the word "more"

Do you think the image of O'Connell street with its sex shop / junkies / beggars etc is a great image of our main street of our capital city, and one Bord Failte should use in advertising more ?

ISDW

Sorry, been away from the pc all weekend having a life, can't believe this thread is still going:D

gigino wrote: »

Some people think that if you give a speech in front of the Queen, you should not talk about her as a comedian would talk about someone else. As someone else on this thread said, Tommy Tiernan could not have insulted her any more.

She is just a person, she has no divine right to her position. She was born the same as you or I and she will die the same as you or I. Respect obviously, but then everyone has the right to respect, don't understand why a comedian shouldn't treat her the same as anyone else?

gigino wrote: »

I knew O'Leary would not bow as she left the stage, given she had spoken so cheekily and even said to the Queen at the function which was hosted by the Queen " we accept you but we won't respect you".


I bet she would bend for the Pope ? I do not know if she ever has or not ( although I think our President has made 7 or 8 seperate visits to the Vatican since taking office).
Etiquette for the Pope is to "Make a low bow, or go down on one knee, when being presented to the pontiff. Once again, disregard your religious affiliation. Take the pope's right hand and kiss his ring if you're a Catholic."
http://www.ehow.com/how_11183_greet-pope.html#ixzz1N15jwp1m
Respect for the Queen :
Since they are not subjects of the royal family, the Obamas were not expected to comply, but President Obama did bow slightly from the waist as he met the queen and her husband.http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/International/story?id=7228105&page=1

If Obama behaves like that towards the Queen, it shows how O'Learys speech - and Gay Byrnes endorsement - was in such bad taste, to put it mildly.
Personally I think respect should always be given to such heads of state etc.

I think maybe Obama bowing to the queen has more to do with their respective heights than anything else. Very difficult to shake hands with someone that much smaller than you without bowing at the waist slightly.

gigino wrote: »

There was poverty in every country in the world 100 years ago. However its also true that Britain built an infrastructure here to help reduce poverty, and which was pretty good at the time - and some would say has not been improved much since. Railways, harbours, canals, legal system, fine old buildings / world class architecture, lighthouses, universities etc. It took a day for a letter to go from Dublin to London then. It takes longer now - ( not to mention costing more than it takes to post a letter the other way ).

Despite hundreds of billions of euro have we built or done much in 100 years ? O'Connell street has changed, we made it worse by putting up a needle in the sky to match the junkie + sex shop image. The countryside has changed with ghost estates. Many of the old railways etc closed. Harbours silted up. Many shops closed. Banks bust. Who was it that questioned are we capable of self-governance ?

How about the industrial revolution? How did that spread across Ireland? Is it an accident that there was virtually no industry outside of Ulster?

I grew up in the UK, and went to school there, Irish history wasn't taught, probably still isn't. I used to take my cousin's books when we came home every summer to read, to learn the history. At the time, I really thought there was relevence for British people to learn Irish history, given that bombs were going off and killing them, but most of them didn't have a clue why. Maybe if Irish history was taught in British schools, the make up of this island would be different now.

I wonder what tourists thought of Sackville Street if they visited, full of beggers and starving Irish people?

gigino

ISDW wrote: »

Respect obviously, but then everyone has the right to respect, don't understand why a comedian shouldn't treat her the same as anyone else?

Because the head of a state, who happened to be hosting the concert, deserves more respect .... regardless of which state it is...Ireland, UK or the Vatican. If you go back + look in this very thread you will see that most people at the time thought O'Learys speech / jokes which nobody laughed at / talking about the Queen in the third person was in bad taste, the low point of the visit.

ISDW

gigino wrote: »

Because the head of a state, who happened to be hosting the concert, deserves more respect .... regardless of which state it is...Ireland, UK or the Vatican. If you go back + look in this very thread you will see that most people at the time thought O'Learys speech / jokes which nobody laughed at / talking about the Queen in the third person was in bad taste, the low point of the visit.

People at the time, i.e., people who were watching it and online at the same time. I was watching it in a room away from my pc, so couldn't post 'at the time', however I did post when I got to my pc, as a lot of others seem to have done. Are you seriously saying that the only valid opinion is one that occurs at the same time as the event in question?

I still don't see what was wrong with it, I thought it was funny in places and serious in others, the right combination for the occasion.

I wonder what your thoughts are on how much respect her husband (Queen Elizabeth, not Olivia O'Leary) shows to other people when visiting their countries?

I really don't think that you are naive enough not to know that the speech would have been vetted and okayed by both the Irish and British governments.

Sonnenblumen

gigino wrote: »

nothing wrong with a sex shop - like Anne Summers - on the main street of a capital city, where families visit etc ? Perhaps you could think of a more appropriate shop ? No, on second thoughts you could not. It reminds me of Bangkok except the streets in Bangkok are cleaner lol.:D, and their sex shops are not foreign owned.

Incidentally the planning behind O'Connell st ( or Sackville street as I think it was named by those who made it ) meant it was ( is still ? ) the widest main street in Europe. If it had'nt the spike in the sky but Nelsons column would'nt that at least have been a bit of a tourist attraction, like the statue of Liberty is ? Never heard of anyone coming to see the spike...and its hard to get a decent photo of it. Was there a staircase inside the column ?

Thinking of the city centre, did'nt it look great behind Obama ? Hard to beat the architecture in places like College Green...maybe we should have put him in front of an Irish building built since independence ? ehhhh civic offices ughhh , ehhh Busaras ugggh , eh ghost estate in ballygobackwards ughh.

You make some very good points, most of which I would agree with. O'Connell street is for the greater part one of the ugliest main thoroughfares of any major city and this unbelievably after the recent millions spent on road/path resurfacing, tree planting etc. Even when it is eventually pedestrianised it will surely become an even greater nightmare (especially for foreign visitors). Crappy fast food and junk food outlets of all descriptions, delapidated buildings alternating with cheap and nasty outlets, our city planners have a lot to answer for.

What was once a noted historical example of cityscape architecture is rapidly deteriorating and becoming a menacing banal environment.