Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
General Election 2016 - Louth Constituiency
Options
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
The only people Sinn Fein/AAA/PBP care about are those on welfare. The more people on welfare & the worse the country is the better for them. That's what they exploit for votes. They don't want these people getting jobs & doing well in life. I am in my early thirties & not rich but I am lucky to have a job but Sinn Fein won't mean more money in my pocket as they want me to keep paying the USC. If you work in any sector you won't be getting anything off them.
First of all lets get into this USC thing, that a lot of people here have been bigging up:
If you are going to vote for FG because they are "abolishing the USC" then you should probably read exactly what they are going to do for you.
Lets have a look at the manifesto - word for word
There are curently 4 rates of USC
So they are only pledging to reduce the 5.5% rate by 1% in Jan 2017 - how long is that away again ? There's NO mention of the first two rate bands being reduced at all and the higher rate of 8% will stay the same.0 -
First of all lets get into this USC thing, that a lot of people here have been bigging up:
If you are going to vote for FG because they are "abolishing the USC" then you should probably read exactly what they are going to do for you.
Lets have a look at the manifesto - word for word
There are curently 4 rates of USC
So they are only pledging to reduce the 5.5% rate by 1% in Jan 2017 - how long is that away again ? There's NO mention of the first two rate bands being reduced at all and the higher rate of 8% will stay the same.
Jan 2017 is less than 11 months away. The next budget deals with tax issues starting on 1 Jan 2017.
They are prioritising middle income earners, who are the people who bear the greatest burden of tax.0 -
-
-
I just got to watch the TV3 People's Debate for Louth earlier, it wasn't easy viewing. While I might not be much clearer on who I will be voting for next Friday, the debate at least served to help me rule out a few candidates;
Emma Coffey - If she knows what she is talking about, she did not do a very good job of showing it on the night, even with her script.
Anthony Connor - The man is passionate, give him that, but just seemed to be there to mainly shout at Kevin Callan.
Mary Moran - Ah, just no.
Peter Fitzpatrick - Performed better at the debate than I imagined he would, but I fundamentally disagree with the reason he's there in the first place, so no.
Gareth Weldon - I do like that 'regular' people are giving politics a go and trying to change something rather than just give out about it, but like Anthony Connor, I did not find anything inspirational in what Gareth had to say. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine these guys having what it takes to deal with all aspects of the job, let alone the causes they seem passionate about.
Gerry Adams - Not even showing up, I will barely look at his name on the ballot, only to fill out a very low preference.
Rather than now listing those who impressed me, cause they were scarce, I'll name those who didn't put me off...
Ged Nash - One who did impress me. I do not agree with everything he says and his party allegiance should be enough to put me off giving him the preference, but I think he is a doer and comes across as someone who knows his job.
Kevin Callan - Kevin has been hard at it on the ground in mid-Louth and Drogheda by the looks of it. Maybe someday he could be a worthy politician, or as close to one as can exist, but for now and the next few years I would like to see him back-up more of his talk and presence in the community. He is too fresh out of the FG party, too soon for me to decide if it was genuinely because of his beliefs, or just because he couldn't get on the party ticket for this election. There's potential there though.
Mark Deary - The only candidate I'm familiar with, I know Mark loosely from playing in and socialising in his very well-run premises, the Spirit Store in Dundalk. However, I had never heard him talk in a political debate before and thought he came across well. I have some issues with the Greens, but at times a candidate's qualities can make me overlook the party, especially if the party have no hope of being the controlling partner in a coalition and therefore not get to enact all those policies.
Imelda Munster - Thought she held her own mostly, did as well as she could considering Vinny B was intent on derailing the debate into an anti-SF episode.* Like the Greens, I have some issues with SF, but them as a minority partner in a coalition does not fill me with dread like it does to some. I do think they have some young, promising politicians and might one day be fit to govern, but that day is far away IMO and always will be with Gerry at the helm and the old-guard still around. Also, they need to ease up on their quest to punish the rich. Imelda did falter when Vinny B (or someone else present) pushed her on SF's stance on taxing high earners.
Fergus O'Dowd - I haven't much fondness for him and some of the things he says, but he is clearly a politician and has been an active part of the government which held office when the country emerged from the worst point in its modern financial history. Between the two FG candidates running in our area, he'll be the one who does better on my ballot.
Maeve Yore - Very passionate about her belief in special needs care, very important issue in the country but just one of many important issues. She did speak well and alluded to the possibility that her knowledge also drifts outside of her main cause. No harm if she gets in, no great gain to the overall good either as an Independent but I would like to see her achieve her goals. There are many fantastic people looking after those with special needs around the country, but their resources have taken a hammering.
Declan Breathnach - It's mad to say it about a FFer, but he seems like a decent man. He wants to make it easier for SME's to do business and do away with some pointless red-tape, this is an important and sensible cause in my book. I also like the way that he did something rare in election debates, and said that he agreed with a point that Mark Deary from the Greens made. The point was in relation to these business hurdles in Dundalk, and for a moment made me think it possible for members from rival parties to rise above and take on the issues. Like Deary, a candidate whose party allegiance I would consider overlooking because of the man.
Michael O'Dowd - Could have tried to get in more on some issues on the night, but spoke well when he did speak. I'm not too keen on Renua though so that will probably be a deciding factor for me next Friday.
Pat Greene - Barely featured at all, but when he did I missed the screen caption with his name and party and was left wondering 'Who was that guy? He made some good points.' Is DDI the way forward? From my limited knowledge of the party, not really. While I do think that as a nation we paid a drastically unfair amount for the Euro crisis, I think the ship has sailed on recouping that money and from now on parties should be looking at ways to prevent the need for a bailout. Learn from the past by all means, and please do, but I think trying to fix it at this stage is a task akin to pissing in the wind.
Dave Bradley - God is going to fix everything. You know what? Let Dave at it, this sort of thing is no harm in isolation
He did say something that resonated with me - People seemed a bit less greedy around here pre-Celtic Tiger. There's no way to prove it or fix it, so while I believe that his heart is in the right place he might be better suited to writing rather than politics.
That's where I'm at with the current crop of candidates. Overall they are not the best bunch but there's enough there to fill five seats. Whether they are the right five or not is obviously down to each voter, but I think I'd like to see Breathnach, Deary, Nash, F. O'Dowd and Maeve Yore get the nominations. That could change by voting time though.
As for the debate itself, I thought Vinny B. stifled it and the crowd were a little noisy, and also too eager to applaud. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to hear that applause once or twice in agreement with a candidate telling Vinny B that he was interrupting too much, but between the crowd, control of them, and Vinny B's personal agenda there was so much time wasted.
*On Vinny B's agenda - The Gerry Adams no-show was fully deserving of some kind of call-out and verbal reprimand on the airwaves, but I think Browne clearly overdid it at many times. At one point, he was asking (read: erupting at) Imelda Munster to make an official statement on one piece of press speculation about witnesses in a Slab Murphy case. Vinny B no more gives a hoot about the people of Louth or the current election issues, all he wanted to do was rile up any kind of anti-SF sentiment. I say this as a person who is not their greatest fan, but I was disappointed with Vincent Browne and his desire to stifle and derail the debate he should have been there to host. I remember when I first became aware of Browne years ago, I thought it was fresh to see someone challenge politicians with hard questions. By now though, I think he has completely jumped the shark and has entered 'parody of himself' territory.
Winners on the night: Nash, Fergus O'Dowd, not the people of Louth, the audience commentator who hit F. O'Dowd about the amount of people in mortgage arrears and the failure to do anything notable about the problem. "Listen Fergus and you might learn something" He found it amusing himself.
Losers on the night: Most of the Independents, Emma Coffey, the people of Louth, organised debate.0 -
-
Advertisement
-
![[Deleted User]](/applications/dashboard/design/images/defaulticon.png)
Advertisement