President Michael D Higgins’ €3,000 a night hotel stays

Hitman3000

AllForIt wrote:

God you'd swear it was €30,000 per night the way some ppl are talking.

It's well over a months wages for a lot of people. Or if you want to be frivolous a week in the Sun for a family of 4 including spending money.

Church on Tuesday

I guess this raises the question of do we need a president at all, and the answer really is no.

Now we've got a multi millionaire businessman who has thrown his hat in the ring for the upcoming presidential election, for an office that has no constitutional power.

Three grand a night hotel stays is fairly obscene for a 'president' that has little to no power, but you can be sure that when members of the government go on there junkets to far flung places to promote 'brand Ireland' around Paddy's Day, the figure would be much of the same.

Having a president is simply a carry over the late forties when Ireland was declared a Republic and to visually rubber stamp that process allowances for a president was made, It's purely window dressing. That's not to take away the good work done by Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese and Michael D hasn't let us down, but essentially it's an office that is fairly redundant and costs the taxpayer.

Bobeagleburger

He's our president, and represents our country well when abroad.

Let me guess, the candidate who's rumbling on about this will go air bnb if he gets in..

Typical independent rag story

nim1bdeh38l2cw

Would you prefer he stays in a hostel?

Hitman3000

RoboKlopp wrote:

Let me guess, the candidate who's rumbling on about this will go air bnb if he gets in..

Did you miss the bit where it said FORMER presidential candidate? He's not running. I find it's helpful to read an article or opening piece before commenting for what should be obvious reasons.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

Of greater relevance is that Higgins visited Geneva to give a keynote address at an International Labor Organization conference. In his speech, Higgins relentlessly attacked the globalisation of trade and finance. One might note that these are the very forces that have brought enormous prosperity to Ireland since the 1980s. Taxing the benefits of globalization enables Higgins to live the champagne socialist high life in Áras an Uachtaráin.

Maybe Higgins's supporters can explain how paying for the president's luxurious jaunt to Switzerland to deliver diatribes against globalization helps to "represent" the Irish people, especially the hundreds of thousands employed in the country by multinational companies?

Hitman3000

Donald Bewildered Farmyard wrote:

Would you prefer he stays in a hostel?

Curious what makes him better than any citizen that we are required to pay for him and his entourage to stay in luxurious surroundings?

dirtyden

AllForIt wrote: »

God you'd swear it was €30,000 per night the way some ppl are talking.

People keep saying this is normal for Geneva, it is not. I occasionally travel to Geneva for work, it’s an expensive city but he could have found secure 5 star accommodation for much less than this, perhaps without being on the lake with an associated Michelin star restaurant.

Let’s not pretend this is reasonable. Spending at a minimum of over 6k on a trip that was only an ego boost for Higgins is not reasonable.

The presidency is not a blank cheque for Higgins to advertise his ‘socialist’ credentials and massage his ego (as with his trip to Castro’s funeral).

DickSwiveller Returns

AllForIt wrote: »

God you'd swear it was €30,000 per night the way some ppl are talking.

It's a lot of money to people who don't earn much.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

seamus wrote: »

Sure, let's just stick him into a shared dorm in a hostel then, what's the worst that can happen?

Donald Bewildered Farmyard wrote: »

Would you prefer he stays in a hostel?

Ah, the old fallacy of false dichotomy. Does it really need to be pointed out that a €3,000 luxury suite and a room in a hostel are not the only possible choices here?

ohnonotgmail

Luka Broad Bassist wrote: »

Of greater relevance is that Higgins visited Geneva to give a keynote address at an International Labor Organization conference. In his speech, Higgins relentlessly attacked the globalisation of trade and finance. One might note that these are the very forces that have brought enormous prosperity to Ireland since the 1980s. Taxing the benefits of globalization enables Higgins to live the champagne socialist high life in Áras an Uachtaráin.

Maybe Higgins's supporters can explain how paying for the president's luxurious jaunt to Switzerland to deliver diatribes against globalization helps to "represent" the Irish people, especially the hundreds of thousands employed in the country by multinational companies?

the same forces that led to a crash in 2008 that resulted in the country borrowing 10's of billions of euros? Swings and roundabouts.

seamus

Luka Broad Bassist wrote: »

Ah, the old fallacy of false dichotomy. Does it really need to be pointed out that a €3,000 luxury suite and a room in a hostel are not the only possible choices here?

It's actually Reductio ad absurdum.

No matter what price you pay for a hotel room, ultimately someone will complain that he could have downsized and paid less.

Taking into account all of the needs of the presidential office, such as the need for security, and even frivilous things like prestige, can you point out why the hotel room that the President stayed in was above what was required, and can you provide a more suitable, and cheaper, alternative that meets all of these needs?

Since you seem very sure that he actually stayed in a €3,000 hotel room and that he paid too much, I can only assume that you have intimate knowledge of the entire trip and can therefore tell us all what should have been done.

Hitman3000

The state rents a residence for the Irish ambassador in Geneva at a cost of 134,000 to the taxpayer. Surely it has a spare room or two at that price point.

ohnonotgmail

So we dont have any evidence that he did actually spend a night in a 3,000 a night suite?

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

the same forces that led to a crash in 2008 that resulted in the country borrowing 10's of billions of euros? Swings and roundabouts.

Many countries that have benefited from globalization did not experience a crash in 2008, ergo globalization itself did not cause the crash. The issues facing Ireland in 2008 stemmed mostly from a hugely inflated domestic property bubble.

Hitman3000

ohnonotgmail wrote:

So we dont have any evidence that he did actually spend a night in a 3,000 a night suite?

Whatever the cost we can be fairly sure he didn't pay it .

Timberrrrrrrr

Hitman3000 wrote: »

Whatever the cost we can be fairly sure he didn't pay it .

He would have paid for some of it.

Hitman3000

Timberrrrrrrr wrote:

He would have paid for some of it.

What maybe 10% and the taxpayer paying the rest?

ohnonotgmail

Hitman3000 wrote: »

Whatever the cost we can be fairly sure he didn't pay it .

i'm sure he didnt pay it personally. Why should he, he was there as the president of ireland. We dont know who actually did it. It could have been the DFA or it could have been the hosts. The article is a load of hot air by a disgruntled man.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

seamus wrote: »

Taking into account all of the needs of the presidential office, such as the need for security, and even frivilous things like prestige, can you point out why the hotel room that the President stayed in was above what was required, and can you provide a more suitable, and cheaper, alternative that meets all of these needs?

Similarly, you seem quite sure than only a €3,000-per-night suite could have provided the security and prestige that the president requires. Are you absolutely certain that adequate levels of security and comfort could not have been provided for less?

I am questioning the entire purpose and cost of the president's trip to Switzerland, undertaken so that he could deliver a keynote address to a conference criticizing globalization and capitalism. Of what benefit was this undertaking to the Irish people? Why should the taxpayer be forking out lots of money so that Higgins can jet around the world airing socialist views that I'm fairly certain the majority of the population do not endorse?

Hitman3000

ohnonotgmail wrote:

i'm sure he didnt pay it personally. Why should he, he was there as the president of ireland. We dont know who actually did it. It could have been the DFA or it could have been the hosts. The article is a load of hot air by a disgruntled man.

Whether the article is from a disgruntled man or not is irrelevant. If taxpayers money is being spent it should be subject to FOI. If it's M Higgins own money I don't give a flying f..... however if it's my taxes that's a different matter.

ohnonotgmail

Hitman3000 wrote: »

Whether the article is from a disgruntled man or not is irrelevant. If taxpayers money is being spent it should be subject to FOI. If it's M Higgins own money I don't give a flying f..... however if it's my taxes that's a different matter.

the presidents office is exempt from FOI. The article has no substance.

Hitman3000

ohnonotgmail wrote:

the presidents office is exempt from FOI. The article has no substance.

It should be. It's taxpayers money. As for the article plenty of substance. The President speaking out against a system that in part contributes to the tax take that allows him further his ego.

ohnonotgmail

Hitman3000 wrote: »

It should be. It's taxpayers money. As for the article plenty of substance. The President speaking out against a system that in part contributes to the tax take that allows him further his ego.

the allegation is that he spent a night in a €3000 suite. There is no substance to that allegation.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

the presidents office is exempt from FOI.

The whole point of the article is to argue that it shouldn't be exempt.

Why should Higgins's office not be accountable for the taxpayers' money it spends?

Of course Higgins wasn't spending personal funds. This is the same man who used the government jet to fly from Dublin to Kerry to attend a concert, at a cost to the taxpayer of over €11,000. He didn't pay out of his own pocket for that little jaunt either.

ohnonotgmail

Luka Broad Bassist wrote: »

The whole point of the article is to argue that it shouldn't be exempt.

Why should Higgins's office not be accountable for the taxpayers' money it spends?

Of course Higgins wasn't spending personal funds. This is the same man who used the government jet to fly from Dublin to Kerry to attend a concert, at a cost to the taxpayer of over €11,000. He didn't pay out of his own pocket for that little jaunt either.

You wouldnt get that from reading this thread. It is all about the €3000 a night hotel suite. Craughwell is a bitter little man who is best ignored. I'm disappointed the independent ran the article. If they really wanted to write an article about the president's office being exempt from FOI they should have done just that, not sink to the level of the Daily Mail.

Hitman3000

ohnonotgmail wrote:

the allegation is that he spent a night in a €3000 suite. There is no substance to that allegation.

There was no allegation in the article. Maybe read it. Rooms cost up to 3k a night. Craughwell has called for the office of President to be subject to FOI. I fully agree with him as a taxpayer whose money is being used to massage Higgins ego.

Beechwoodspark

Great that Mickey d is finally be exposed. Parasite and has been for a very very long time. Champagne socialist to the core.

No doubt he’d call us **** for even raising this, in his embarrassing fake posh accent

Hitman3000

Beechwoodspark wrote:

Great that Mickey d is finally be exposed. Parasite and has been for a very very long time. Champagne socialist to the core.

He was and probably still is a member of Labour. They were all exposed in the last several years. Great at socialism once someone else pays.

BailMeOut

it says nowhere in this where they Ireland actually paid this room rate. I'd expect when Michael D arrives at any hotel anywhere the hotel will put him in one of their better rooms regardless what was booked or paid for. This stupid articles in this rag is just click bait.