Dublin Fingal General Election

jwwb

Looks like the General Election will be either weeks away or months away so is it time to start a General Election thread?

We bid farewell to Dublin North and welcome Dublin Fingal together with our compatriots from Rivervalley who briefly moved out west and a brand new and shiny extra seat to bring it to a total of five.

Sitting TDs in Dublin North are:
Clare Daly (Independent Socialist)
Alan Farrell (FG)
James Reilly (FG)
Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Going by adriankavanaghelections.org/2014/10/22/officially-declared-candidates-for-the-20152016-general-election/ (a rather exellent and informative site) there are now a total of 11 candidates who will be looking for your hanging chad in November are February/March. These are:

Lorraine Clifford-Lee (FF)
Alan Farrell (FG)
Roslyn Fuller (Independent)
Terry Kelleher (AAA)
Barry Martin (PBPA)
Tony Murphy (Independent)
Darragh O’Brien (FF)
Joe O’Brien (GP)
Louise O’Reilly (SF)
James Reilly (FG)
Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Also expected are:
Clare Daly (Independent Socialist)
Keith Redmond (Renua)

In terms of mathematics a candidate will need 16.7% of the vote to get elected so from the various polls you can get some idea of who will be there are the final shake out. Dublin North has however proven itself to be a little bit contrarian in the past so it’s all to play for.

My best guess is: Daly, D. O’Brien FF, L O’Reilly SF, 1FG, and finally a dog fight between Labour / 2FG / AN Other with the last seat being decided by order of elimination (excuse the cliche).

cowzerp

Anyone who votes for FF, FG, Labour, The Greens or Renua which are just FG Rejects are fools, it's time to get rid of politicians who prioritise banks and corporates over the people they are meant to be working for, The banks got bailed out, we got sold out.

neris

cowzerp wrote: »

Anyone who votes for FF, FG, Labour, The Greens or Renua which are just FG Rejects are fools, it's time to get rid of politicians who prioritise banks and corporates over the people they are meant to be working for, The banks got bailed out, we got sold out.

so what your really saying is everyone should vote for socialist parties as that leaves no pro business parties

martinn123

I thing the constituency may be up for a few upsets, this time around

Clare Daly's breaking from Joe Higgins has she built up enough support on her own to keep her seat, I think maybe not.

While there has traditionally been enough support in North Dublin for at least on FG seat, who will keep it this time

Dr Reilly's demotion from Health, his financial tribulations, and his lack of standing within the party, I think he might be in trouble

Alan Farrell, to me, does not have much of a profile outside his base in Malahide, certainly not North of the M1 anyway, I think he might just shade it over Reilly.

If the Labour vote is as weak here as the polls suggest, Brendan Ryan is in trouble.

So my prediction, losses for Daly, Reilly and Ryan.

cowzerp

neris wrote: »

so what your really saying is everyone should vote for socialist parties as that leaves no pro business parties

No I am saying parties that HAVE screwed us cannot be supported by right minded people, It is time we vote for people who will help the people 1st, not banks and companies like Apple who owe us Billions that the Government are fighting Europe to stop them having to pay it!

Voting for FG, FF, Labour, The Greens and Renua who are FG2 is stockholm syndrome at its best.

pinkypinky

I have no particular allegiance at the moment but I think Brendan Ryan and James Reilly will be in trouble. I hear very little from BR on either a national or local level. Reilly's demotion will have damaged him too. I suspect Daly will keep her seat though.

The Hill Billy

Brendan Ryan is very active at a local level - weekly clinics & all that. Probably just doesn't shout about it. He is far enough removed from the Labour leadership that he hasn't been tarnished by their performance. However, he may suffer from general displeasure with the party as a whole.

James Reilly on the other hand was trying to be a crowd-pleaser with getting the new health centres set up in the constituency & all that. However, after the larger health fiasco & not doing much since - I don't think he'll be returned again.

I'm saying nothing about the rest of them.

martinn123

The Hill Billy wrote: »

James Reilly on the other hand was trying to be a crowd-pleaser with getting the new health centres set up in the constituency & all that. However, after the larger health fiasco & not doing much since - I don't think he'll be returned again.

I wonder if he will park that Eco/Bio Diesel jeep, up by the M1 exit at lissenhall again, with his name all over it.
Should be about 20 miles put up on it since the last Election.

Dizzyblonde

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Brendan Ryan is very active at a local level - weekly clinics & all that. Probably just doesn't shout about it. He is far enough removed from the Labour leadership that he hasn't been tarnished by their performance. However, he may suffer from general displeasure with the party as a whole.

James Reilly on the other hand was trying to be a crowd-pleaser with getting the new health centres set up in the constituency & all that. However, after the larger health fiasco & not doing much since - I don't think he'll be returned again.

I'm saying nothing about the rest of them.

I have to agree. Like Sean before him, he works very hard at a local level and that matters more to me than what party someone belongs to. Especially now we're all so disillusioned.

None of the parties have a strong leader, which is a pity.

jwwb

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I have to agree. Like Sean before him, he works very hard at a local level and that matters more to me than what party someone belongs to. Especially now we're all so disillusioned.

None of the parties have a strong leader, which is a pity.

Just looking for examples. The one time I went to see him at a clinic he wasn't there and got no response to my email I subsequently sent him.

Dizzyblonde

Ah it's all the little stuff like turning up at schools and community centres for meetings, prizegivings etc. Personally I found Brendan's office a huge help with a community matter.

adamshare01

Anyone who votes for FF, FG, Labour, The Greens or Renua which are just FG Rejects are fools, it's time to get rid of politicians who prioritise banks and corporates over the people they are meant to be working for, The banks got bailed out, we got sold out.

jwwb

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Ah it's all the little stuff like turning up at schools and community centres for meetings, prizegivings etc. Personally I found Brendan's office a huge help with a community matter.

As you might imagine the issue that I was concerned about was pretty important to me and my family and the lack of acknowledgement was not impressive.

I personally do not rate the turning up at funerals and prizegivings by public representatives and find it more of a sign of the poor state of this democracy.

Separately, as you can see on this thread, there has been a serious fracturing of the community in the last number of years. Perhaps I have lead a sheltered life but I have never seen things as bad.

Dizzyblonde

jwwb wrote: »

As you might imagine the issue that I was concerned about was pretty important to me and my family and the lack of acknowledgement was not impressive.

I personally do not rate the turning up at funerals and prizegivings by public representatives and find it more of a sign of the poor state of this democracy.

Separately, as you can see on this thread, there has been a serious fracturing of the community in the last number of years. Perhaps I have lead a sheltered life but I have never seen things as bad.

Did you chase it up with more emails/phonecalls?


I'm just happy that we in Rivervalley are back in the Fingal fold for the next general election - voting in the last one was surreal. I reckon that voting for any party will involve a huge leap of faith because no party really stands out for its leadership or strength. They're all marvellous when they're on the back benches.

I'm not very politically savvy so I base my choices on people who seem to me to be hard working and sincere, on both a local and national level. And people who are professional in whatever they do. We saw a lot of independents elected last time and some of them are wasting seats in the Dáil, in my opinion.

dslamjack

Brendan Ryan is in my book an honest solid hard working local TD(a rare breed in a house full of wasters).
Have any of the parties indicated or said they would reform the Dail and Senate?.
Or are they all going to let the gravy train coast along as normal.
I some times wonder if they make up the proper numbers to meet the quorum , there are that few in attendance in the chamber most day's.
The way the house's are ran, as well as the way Government is run need's to change.
This crack of disappearing for week's on end has to stop , attendance to both house's should be based on a business model and the basic working week that the majority of us adhere too.
This pairing system should be out the door as well.
The committee system badly need's reform in both house's.
Committee's should have the power(thru the courts) to summon , arrest and detain where need's arise to protect the common good,instead of the current position of wagging a finger on bended knee's at those who bother to turn up.
Executive power need's to be wielded as well as held to account,Minister Varadkar speaking during the week to RTE, states , he has no power to sack anyone in the HSE only in his own dept of health, what a set up , he should have the power to sack whole board's of management if need be, or the whole sorry lot , as President Reagan did with air traffic controllers some year's ago in the states.
There's no point having a dog and barking yourself as they used to say.
When Gaybo done his morning show years ago ,ministers and govt dept's listened with crooked ears in case they or the dept were mentioned in a bad light or being made a show off by Gay, Ministers would reach out and down on the phone after even being mentioned on that show,ministers were held to account by the court of public opinion, and that in all politicians book is the only court that matters.
But things can change , looking back at the late great Tony Gregory , God we could do with 20/30 of him now, there are those who can effect change like Lemass + Browne and ye live in hope that those that are given the gift of the people ,don't succumb to the the rub of the silk suit and the chateau lafite 1868 ,for the moment we'll wait and see, at least we seen the hun off last night.

dslamjack

I would hope that all democratically minded folk would stand shoulder to shoulder in denouncing the bully boy / rent a mob thug's that were responsible for the scenes outside Bluebell Community Centre on thursday night.
This kind of thuggery has no place in a democratic republic.
James Reilly has the same rights as every other citizen, the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to go about their business without fear and intimidation or the fear of being physically injured while doing their job.
It is well known that these crews have threatened various service workers on estates around Dublin.
This is the work of bottom feeders of the worst kind ,it makes no difference if they be right or left wing thugs.
If it had been up to me that night in November , I would have called the Minister for Defence and the Chief of Staff of the army , declared a state of martial law , rounded up the entire Finna Fail party, bankers etc , and summarily executed the bloody lot of them, and made the families pay for the bullets like they do in China.
But I for my sins am a socialist democratic republican , the law is the law and as soon as some loony group goes off on one , half cocked , all hell breaks loose, the history of the 1920/30's teach us that.
The RIGHT TO PROTEST is one of the most cherished right's in any democracy ,as soon as those who organise protest's allow them to be hijacked and descend or revert to violence,they erode and undermine the most basic of human rights and a foundation stone of our grate (but still imperfect democracy a hundred years on)republic.
Violence -- No -- Never -- Ever

BMJD

I just killed a few brain cells by watching a video posted on one of the many anti-austerity facebook groups, some loudmouth harassing Brendan Ryan as he was canvassing/leafleting today, there is another video of them preventing his car from moving, and more photos of him being harassed at his own clinic, along with insults, threats, accusations against him and a couple of his helpers.

Looking back at the 2014 Local Election results, it's obvious that there is a silent majority who aren't stupid enough to fall for this "make the rich pay/blame the banks/we won't pay for anything" nonsense that these people continue to peddle to anyone who will listen. It annoys the crap out of me, I recognise two of the "protesters" in one set of photos, neither of them have worked a day in the last decade or so that I have known them.

For the record, I don't support any political party/movement, I try to judge each candidate on their own merits, depending on the election. I am, however, a supporter of democracy; if you are vehemently opposed to someone then go stand against them and get your mandate - harassing people with a poxy phone camera is caveman politics. IMO

kennyb3

Am I the only one who votes based on which party they want in government and not based on local politicians?

Brendan Ryan is probably the best TD in the area however I won't be voting for Labour

Dizzyblonde

kennyb3 wrote: »

Am I the only one who votes based on which party they want in government and not based on local politicians?

Brendan Ryan is probably the best TD in the area however I won't be voting for Labour

It throws me into a quandary, voting on a local level vs a national level.

pinkypinky

I have voted both ways in different elections!

Arthur Daley

kennyb3 wrote: »

Am I the only one who votes based on which party they want in government and not based on local politicians?

Brendan Ryan is probably the best TD in the area however I won't be voting for Labour

People say they want change (end parish pump politics etc.) and then go and do the same thing over and over again. So FF will get a fair bounce back this election as plenty will forgive them after a whole 5years out in the sin bin.

It's hard to see how we won't get fg/ff coalition in 2016. It's the only numbers I can see stacking up right now.

koutoubia

Arthur Daley wrote: »

People say they want change (end parish pump politics etc.) and then go and do the same thing over and over again. So FF will get a fair bounce back this election as plenty will forgive them after a whole 5years out in the sin bin.

It's hard to see how we won't get fg/ff coalition in 2016. It's the only numbers I can see stacking up right now.

They maybe the only numbers that will make a govt but I cant really see the old time FF'ers who have generations of FF in their blood/lineage playing second fiddle to Enda et al!

I am genuinely at a loss to see who I will vote for.
I can tell you who I WONT be voting for.
FF. Never did vote.Never will.
Labour. Turned over on almost every policy they promised to implement.
FG. I voted for O'Reilly the last time.I wont waste my vote like that again!

dsmythy

Renua followed by FG for me. Purely national choice unless one of the candidates has an absolute disaster.

cowzerp

dslamjack wrote: »

Brendan Ryan is in my book an honest solid hard working local TD(a rare breed in a house full of wasters).

What has Ryan done so great? he voted in all the austerity measures that ruined this country and is Labour through and through and i don't mean the old Labour, i mean the right wing look after the corporates labour.

BMJD wrote: »

I just killed a few brain cells by watching a video posted on one of the many anti-austerity facebook groups, some loudmouth harassing Brendan Ryan as he was canvassing/leafleting today, there is another video of them preventing his car from moving, and more photos of him being harassed at his own clinic, along with insults, threats, accusations against him and a couple of his helpers.

The video were Ryan's back up assaulted the man taking the video which is his right? The back up was the only thug in that video, Ryan has played his role in all this austerity and it needs to be highlighted, the fact he has the neck to knock on doors show's what sort of a clown he is and how naive the voters are.
A vote for Ryan or O'Reilly is a vote endorsing and mandating 5 more years of Austerity, Stockholm syndrome anyone!

BMJD

cowzerp wrote: »

What has Ryan done so great? he voted in all the austerity measures that ruined this country and is Labour through and through and i don't mean the old Labour, i mean the right wing look after the corporates labour.

Far be it for me to defend Brendan Ryan or Labour, but if you think that those austerity measures are what ruined the country, you either have a short memory or you lack basic economic knowledge.

cowzerp wrote: »

The video were Ryan's back up assaulted the man taking the video which is his right? The back up was the only thug in that video, Ryan has played his role in all this austerity and it needs to be highlighted, the fact he has the neck to knock on doors show's what sort of a clown he is and how naive the voters are.
A vote for Ryan or O'Reilly is a vote endorsing and mandating 5 more years of Austerity, Stockholm syndrome anyone!

Laughable excuse for trying to provoke the man into doing something stupid. Who do these people think they are, deciding who can or can't canvas or leaflet an area? If you don't like Mr. Ryan, don't vote for him. It's also laughable that you label that man a thug whilst the comments contain threats and allegations like this:

You smug looking ****ing p****

Such a dig in the face he would have got. Ya big fat ****in paedo lookin c**t

Fat scumbag deliberately banging off the man, typical of the labour traitor party.
They've lost the working class vote.

id have slapped his fat piggie head off him .this is whats needed run the tratiors out of every estate

Let me at that fat p****!!!

Fat sod....plank of wood to the face sort him out

Id love to wipe the ****ing smirk off his ugly ****ing fat mush
I'd run few pounds fat if the fat ****

Dirt bird come near my dr ****e bag

Apologies for the language/awful spelling, grammar etc.

Brendan Ryan, and Labour/FG have a mandate whether you like it or not, just because you don't agree with them doesn't entitle you and/or others to act like fascists. You'll have your democratic opportunity to do something about it soon if it bothers you that much.

tobsey

cowzerp wrote: »

What has Ryan done so great? he voted in all the austerity measures that ruined this country and is Labour through and through and i don't mean the old Labour, i mean the right wing look after the corporates labour.

No no no. You have that very wrong. He voted for the austerity measures which have restored the country after it was ruined by the previous governments.

FF ruined this country to the point were we were taking in 20 billion in tax less than what we were spending. By next year the deficit will be less than 2%. They have fixed the economy. The next government can use that to fix the social problems such as housing, health and transport. I for one hope as close to the same government is returned as possible. Hopefully without the likes of Renua and SDs and independents as they'll just get more than their numbers deserve as they will hold the crucial votes to the get the numbers up.

Absolutely no way to FF or SF.

jwwb

BMJD wrote: »

Brendan Ryan, and Labour/FG have a mandate whether you like it or not, just because you don't agree with them doesn't entitle you and/or others to act like fascists. You'll have your democratic opportunity to do something about it soon if it bothers you that much.

We got to post 24 without someone being called a fascist.

Pity

koutoubia

jwwb wrote: »

We got to post 24 without someone being called a fascist.

Pity

Godwins law hasnt kicked in yet (technically) so all is good!

traco

Had the Greens canvassing for Joe O'Brien in Portmarnock today, nothing of substance. A4 flyer with huge text and saying nothing. Straight in the bin - the green one at that.

I'm starting to dispair as between all the political correctness, social dogooders and passengers on other socially acceptable manifestos they are all saying what they think wants to be heard. Nobody running for real political change from the top down, just get in and look after yourself. But why would turkeys vote for Christmas???

koutoubia

The Greens got their chance and make b**ls of it.
A mess of two tiered car tax system.
Lashing on extra (carbon) tax onto heating oil,coal etc in the middle of the worst freeze in living memory without giving people a viable alternative.
Putting a tax on vitals doesnt make you use less of it! It just makes it more expensive!

cowzerp

BMJD wrote: »

Far be it for me to defend Brendan Ryan or Labour, but if you think that those austerity measures are what ruined the country, you either have a short memory or you lack basic economic knowledge.

yet you decided to defend the parasite that voted to rob from the poor to give to the rich

BMJD wrote: »

Laughable excuse for trying to provoke the man into doing something stupid. Who do these people think they are, deciding who can or can't canvas or leaflet an area? If you don't like Mr. Ryan, don't vote for him. It's also laughable that you label that man a thug whilst the comments contain threats and allegations like this:

Only provoking that happened was the thug who assaulted the man who has every right to film in public whether you like it or not.

BMJD wrote: »

Brendan Ryan, and Labour/FG have a mandate whether you like it or not, just because you don't agree with them doesn't entitle you and/or others to act like fascists. You'll have your democratic opportunity to do something about it soon if it bothers you that much.

False, Brendan Ryan's Mandate was to abolish water charges and to help the less well off, he has no mandate as he lost it as soon as he turned his back on the promises he got voted in based on, and he has just become part of Fine Gael who are nothing like what the Labour Party is meant to stand for, James Connolly would destroy these people if he was around now.

tobsey wrote: »

No no no. You have that very wrong. He voted for the austerity measures which have restored the country after it was ruined by the previous governments.

That is complete and utter scutter, the employment figures for example are counting all the jobsbridge people as employed, and that is essentially slave labour, it also doesn't take into account the hundreds of thousands of our young men and women forced to emigrate and unable to return

This country might have improved for the elites and a small few people but has not improved for the working class and most middle class people, Fact is Fine Gael and Labour lied to get voted in and only got the votes as a protest to Fianna Fail and the Greens and they just carried on and out done them in screwing the people and sealed the bank debts into sovereign debts that we will be paying long after they are all on the pension gravy train.

Housing crisis at an all time high, Trolleys in hospitals at all time high-actually you're lucky to get a trolley now, homelessness at an all time high and people working for far below a living wage is also at record numbers. That is the reality behind Brendan Ryan and the rest of these parasites legacy's

The Hill Billy

Name-calling is for the playground - not a civil discussion in this forum. Either post in a civil manner or don't bother posting at all.

No more warnings - straight to a ban from now on if people insist on posting in an uncivil manner.

tHB

L1011

cowzerp wrote: »

the employment figures for example are counting all the jobsbridge people as employed

It doesn't.

There are also very few people actually on Jobbridge in the first place. They aren't counted on the live register, but underemployed people (part time seeking full time) are, so its a case of using the appropriate figures for the appropriate use. Live Register has issues, employment numbers have issues.

The 'alternative' position which relies on misery to campaign for votes is falling apart due to rising employment, recovering consumer sentiment etc. You can't continue to convince people that the country is screwed when they no longer feel or see it.

jwwb

L1011 wrote: »

The 'alternative' position which relies on misery to campaign for votes is falling apart due to rising employment, recovering consumer sentiment etc. You can't continue to convince people that the country is screwed when they no longer feel or see it.

2:1 - 43% think they are worse off than five years ago vs 21% think they are better off than five years ago. 37% think they are the same.

source: http://cf.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/st2.jpg

dslamjack

I think for this election , it will be a case of better the divil ye know, as the most recent ''polls'' show FG/Lab @ 32% or so.
There will be continued erosion of the status quo political base of FG /FF/ Labour by SF and the Independents.
The ''new'' far left could be viewed by a nervous electorate as a throwback akin to the loony left council's of Britain in the 80/90's and out side of urban area's a total non runner.
If there were any justice , Fianna FAIL, should have been proscribed and disbanded as a political party(it would have left their ilk free to chase ,The Fast Buck they so cherished)in the very least they should along with Fine Gael should have been forced to merge to avail of official funding as they are basically two sides of the same coin,that have been splitting the popular electoral vote since the establishment of the state.
Sinn Fein is impressive as a political party , it has every thing ye would want ( apart from some who think Gerry and Martin should go and let the young one's get on with it), they appear to have cast iron discipline within , as well as very young bright astute potential Td's , a manifesto on par with any other party , as manifesto's go.
It is only a matter of time before Sinn Fein will form a majority government , they will in the interim form a coalition with one of the other stake holders , the roll of the electoral dice will dictate who or what form that government will take.
Will it be this election , I doubt it but never say never as they say.
Shane Ross's Independent's Alliance could grow at others expense and be perfectly placed to fill the boots of a coalition partner should the occasion arise.
Renua will I fear fall in to the shadow of the Greens and( pd's), I put the(pd's) in bracket's in case their vile ideology spread's.
In the case of Renua , people would be rightly worried that it would be another reworking of the combined mantra's of fg/ff/grn's and pd's,Renua will have to work hard to dispel these fear's in the electorate.
The Independent's hav't exactly exalted in glory(has anybody in either house) , but there again by their nature and position in the house how could they,their fate is ultimately decided on their merit's and by their track record of work and achievement by their own constituent's ,which is how it should be.
Also lest we forget , the people of this country were as bad as FF, we as a nation sold our own children's future's for few foreign holiday's and new cars , electric gate's on the dog's Italian tiled house, a hell of a lot of decking ,ohh , n don't forget the concrete eagle's and pillar's and the facia boards with icing on em.
People lost the total run of themselves , helicopter's to collect the auld take away or drop the sprog off at the 100,000/1m communion or wedding ''event''.
God save us, we where going to be the first nation on earth to send a block of appartment's in to space and if that weren't enought , we imposed appartment culture on such far flung destinations as Bulgaria ,Iceland etc to name but a few.
I remember saying at the time Bertie could have gone on the late late and shot a couple of kid's live on tv , and people would have said the kid's must have been up to some thing.
People (knew bloody well, what was going on in the country)but would or did not Want to know, even when all was well lost and gone , the nation put cowen +co in to try and keep the ''party'' going.
Hell at one stage in 2009 , Michael Martin was leading the leadership poll's(I kid ye not) what does that say about us.
At the height of the septic tiger , people were only short of digging up the dead (in pursuit of a fast buck) ,in deed the nun's below in Drumcondra did just that by the disinterment of their own late departed so that the land could be sold for a high priced housing development.
People condemned local council's/corporation's for not selling off their local housing stock at reduced market prices to the tennant , to ensure a huge mark up/ profit for the tenant when sold and we wonder why there is so many homeless now .
Rent supplement's were introduced to subsidise private business/landlord's ,even with our national scar's of previous landlordism , we as a nation ploughed on regardless.
So yes we are all as much to blame for what went on , the SAD part is , not one iota has changed since then, and have we learned , you bet we hav't and would we as a nation do it all again , YOU BET YA , were Irish after all.

L1011

jwwb wrote: »

2:1 - 43% think they are worse off than five years ago vs 21% think they are better off than five years ago. 37% think they are the same.

source: http://cf.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/st2.jpg

Ask again after January pay cheques land.

We've got political parties trying to convince everyone its all doom and no improvement but the actual facts become hard to ignore

jwwb

L1011 wrote: »

Ask again after January pay cheques land.

We've got political parties trying to convince everyone its all doom and no improvement but the actual facts become hard to ignore

And you've political parties trying to convince you it's all great and everything is awesome.

L1011

jwwb wrote: »

And you've political parties trying to convince you it's all great and everything is awesome.

One of those viewpoints is a lot closer to what the economic indicators show, though.

cowzerp

L1011 wrote: »

Ask again after January pay cheques land.

We've got political parties trying to convince everyone its all doom and no improvement but the actual facts become hard to ignore

It's cynical, they are borrowing money just before the election to throw a few crumbs back at the people after robbing the whole slice pan to pretend things are on the up, The same happened the last election too.

The improvements are as usual mainly for the wealthy and barely any change for the poor, and it will all be took away as soon as people fall for the con and vote these that have screwed the people the last 4 years and looked after Denis O Brien and the elites while taking from the poorest, If they had any decency they would let the 19 Billion that the EU say Apple owe us to be paid and that would be a big help, clearly several other companies would be following suit and we could easily eliminate homelessness etc

let's not forget Fine Gael promised to get rid of the trolley scandal in hospitals and they have made it were you are lucky to get a trolley at all

The Homeless crisis is at it's worst in any of our lifetimes as is the suicide rates

Emigration of our young is worse than during the 80s and most that left have no hope of coming home as they will have no jobs to come back to

Kenny won't do any debates and only answers questions that he can get answers for in advance

Labour said Labours way or Frankfurts way and they backed all Frankfurts aims and turned on their voters and are the biggest traitor party i can ever remember, At least Fine Gael stood by their blue shirt fascist beginnings by not listening to the people on water charges even though the water charge campaign was the biggest resistance campaign in the history of the state, Kenny also said it was immoral to tax a man's home yet has no problem with the household tax but does have a problem making corporations pay the low tax that is available in this country, if you think it is acceptable that corporations are put ahead of the people of this country while they get made homeless and kill themselves then your priorities are all wrong, I'm alright Jack.

tobsey

What last election? The last election had an outgoing FF adminsitration who had implemented three austerity budgets in a row.

There were no improvements for the wealthy. Maybe slight reductions in CGT but the main reduction was in USC. The 7% rate which had the largest reduction kicked in after 18k per annum. Hardly wealthy at that level.

Apple do not owe Ireland 19 billion. They may have used Ireland as a funnel for those profits but if they really are liable for that tax they should be distributed to where the profits were made. At least Apple employ thousands in this country. There are shelf companies who employ nobody here using Ireland's tax arrangements to reduce their tax liability. Those types of companies should be tackled alright. The tech sector is one of the main drivers of economic growth. Their well paid employees are spending money in other sectors and further boosting employment.

Health has been a disaster. It was a disaster before they got in and it will still be a disaster in five years time regardless of who makes up the next government. It is a negative for FG and Labour though alright.

Housing crisis is being caused by landlords ramping up rents. A report came out yesterday that the main reason that families are made homeless us due to landlords raising rents. Is rent control the solution though? There aren't many places where it's been a success. Germany has been spoken of in regards to their rent controls but I've read that it hasn't worked out and their authorities are considering removing them.

That's a disgrace blaming the current government on suicide. The highest recorded level I could find was 554 in 2011, when the last government left and this one took over. The following year it was 504: http://nsrf.ie/statistics/suicide/

Most young people I know that emigrated did so out of choice. Some had good jobs. Perhaps if they had better prospect here they would have stayed. However employment is increasing so it's very likely there'll be work available here from them if they want to come back. It's funny that it's only the mammies and daddies left at home that complain about the emigration crises. You never hear complaints from the young Irish on Bondi Beach.

I don't care if Kenny doesn't often do live debates. I doubt he makes policy decisions in the heat of the moment so I don't see it as a requirement that he can debate with other party leaders. Martin is well known to be a good debater. That does not mean he'll be a good Taoiseach.

Labour got less than half the number of seats that FG did. You can't expect them to follow through on everything in their manifesto if they don't get an overall majority. Labour were the ones that proposed the Property Tax. That's one of the measures they brought to the coalition talks. FG brought water charges. I don't think Irish Water itself was handled in the best way but there's nothing wrong with charging for water. You want it, you pay for it. Also there's no way way out of them either. If you own a mansion but live offshore, that doesn't matter, you're still liable for water and property tax.

The country was in an absolute state when this government took over. They've given a tiny amount back to people in tax reductions because that's all we can afford. Their first few budgets were extremely austere, they did this in order to be able to give something back later. It was better to tear off the band-aid than peel it off slowly.

I think of all the options available that FG and Labour deserve another term to see what they'll do when the economy is in a reasonable state. FF should not be let near power again. SF I hope never do. The rest are only useful as an opposition and aren't a viable government.

L1011

cowzerp wrote: »

It's cynical, they are borrowing money just before the election to throw a few crumbs back at the people after robbing the whole slice pan to pretend things are on the up, The same happened the last election too.

Deficit next year is going to be significantly lower than this year.

You are aware that the "opposition"s proposed budgets would require far higher borrowing and are populist in the extreme?

cowzerp wrote: »

Emigration of our young is worse than during the 80s and most that left have no hope of coming home as they will have no jobs to come back to

Wrong on two counts. You might have been right in 2010, but both figures (emigration and total employment) have moved in the correct directions - down and up respectively - since then.

The politics of misery requires blindly pretending its still as bad as it was in 2010. Its not.

Arthur Daley

Only in Ireland is it 'austerity' to spend billions more than you collect in taxes. Jesus you'd love to send the anti austerity alliance, people before profit, Ruth coppinger, Paul Murphy etc. back to the 40s or 50s to see what the term austerity means. Seriously it's the most misused term in politics in the last decade.

Borrowing from the future to pay for the largesse of today is the real crime. This government has brought the deficit down at long last.

cowzerp

Fine Gael promised to burn the bondholders, instead they made the debts sovereign debts that we cannot burn, Emigration might be slowing but that's because the massive amount who left over the last few years, the government ignored the homeless crisis in the budget and should have put in rental caps and made empty house be opened and uses, but half the Dail are landlords so stand to lose if the fake housing bubble drops, keeping house prices high benefits the wealthy who can charge more rent etc

No matter what way you look at it, Fine Gael and Labour are proven liars, they lied to get into power and have refused to debate with the public since and don't even answer the elected opposition td's questions in the dail, It is quite scary that people on here find that acceptable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=523FLk2126g

contract for Safer streets (guards to busy getting involved in civil disputes that are not their business)
health services that work, (Worst trolley crisis in the history of the state)
end of government wasting your money (Irish water, if all pay it covers the cost of them billing people only)
Government transparency (Does everything in his power to cover up questions asked, notably those about Tax exile Denis o Brien who got contracts under suspicious means)
This man has broke all his promises and said he will not run again if he doesn't fulfil these promises

tobsey

cowzerp wrote: »

Fine Gael promised to burn the bondholders, instead they made the debts sovereign debts that we cannot burn, Emigration might be slowing but that's because the massive amount who left over the last few years, the government ignored the homeless crisis in the budget and should have put in rental caps and made empty house be opened and uses, but half the Dail are landlords so stand to lose if the fake housing bubble drops, keeping house prices high benefits the wealthy who can charge more rent etc

No matter what way you look at it, Fine Gael and Labour are proven liars, they lied to get into power and have refused to debate with the public since and don't even answer the elected opposition td's questions in the dail, It is quite scary that people on here find that acceptable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=523FLk2126g

contract for Safer streets (guards to busy getting involved in civil disputes that are not their business)
health services that work, (Worst trolley crisis in the history of the state)
end of government wasting your money (Irish water, if all pay it covers the cost of them billing people only)
Government transparency (Does everything in his power to cover up questions asked, notably those about Tax exile Denis o Brien who got contracts under suspicious means)
This man has broke all his promises and said he will not run again if he doesn't fulfil these promises

If anyone thinks any of the other parties will deliver all they are currently promising then they are naive in the extreme.

dslamjack

Aye indeed , party manifesto's should never be taken orally and if after reading the symptons persist ,consult your local bar tender or taxi man immediately for advice.
I mean ye have more chance of wining the lotto and having Lord Lucan personally deliver the cheque riding Shergar than believing a word out of anybody in Dail Eireann (when they bother to attend) , the green bin and delete button is also great when dealing with any correspondence from them especially pre election nonsense and the like.

L1011

cowzerp wrote: »

Emigration might be slowing but that's because the massive amount who left over the last few years,

No, its because of the massive increase in employment. There's also significant numbers returning.

Continue trying to convince yourself everything is dire if you want, though. Reality doesn't match your views.

If you believe one of the random acronym-parties that have appeared from nowhere and don't understand how maths works are going to keep their frankly ludicrous "promises" that'll plunge the state in to a major deficit, you've got trust issues.

handlemaster

cowzerp wrote: »

Anyone who votes for FF, FG, Labour, The Greens or Renua which are just FG Rejects are fools, it's time to get rid of politicians who prioritise banks and corporates over the people they are meant to be working for, The banks got bailed out, we got sold out.

You Forgot the Irish water chant. . And free houses for all...

cowzerp

L1011 wrote: »

No, its because of the massive increase in employment. There's also significant numbers returning.

Complete and utter fabricated figures, Counting Jobsbridge and people who are not even making a living wage, Increase in Homeless and soup kitchens would be more honest.

L1011 wrote: »

If you believe one of the random acronym-parties that have appeared from nowhere and don't understand how maths works are going to keep their frankly ludicrous "promises" that'll plunge the state in to a major deficit, you've got trust issues.

Sinn Fein have a very solid financial plan which stops screwing the working and middle classes and get's the money from the more well off and the corporations etc. but let's not let propaganda from FG and Labour get in the way of the truth

http://issuu.com/sinnfeinireland/docs/pre-budget_october2015_web_f2e26f3a9b6c30 all in black and white!

tobsey

cowzerp wrote: »

Complete and utter fabricated figures, Counting Jobsbridge and people who are not even making a living wage, Increase in Homeless and soup kitchens would be more honest.

Budget 2015 reduced income tax. Income Tax returns in 2015 are higher than 2014. Either working people got pay rises or more people are working and paying income tax. Either way it's a sign that employee's conditions are improving.

The methods that are used for generating statistics on employment are standard and publicly known. If Sinn Fein got into power the figures would still be gathered in the same way.

Joe prim

martinn123 wrote: »

I wonder if he will park that Eco/Bio Diesel jeep, up by the M1 exit at lissenhall again, with his name all over it.
Should be about 20 miles put up on it since the last Election.

It's a great tactic, I always like to vote for someone with their name written on a jeep ( and the bio/eco factor is a bonus)

handlemaster

cowzerp wrote: »

Complete and utter fabricated figures, Counting Jobsbridge and people who are not even making a living wage, Increase in Homeless and soup kitchens would be more honest.



Sinn Fein have a very solid financial plan which stops screwing the working and middle classes and get's the money from the more well off and the corporations etc. but let's not let propaganda from FG and Labour get in the way of the truth

http://issuu.com/sinnfeinireland/docs/pre-budget_october2015_web_f2e26f3a9b6c30 all in black and white!

I actually had to reread the last paragraph I was honestly looking for the punch line . The fact its a statement of fact by the poster is even more funny. That money tree politics has no bearing in reality. The "more well off" who are these people ? I can tell you anybody with millions would be gone from the country if this fairytale party were to get in.