Does Fianna Fáil have a political future?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503180#Comment_119503180

Afaik 5 of their TDs are off SF transfers,which was pushed heavily on a transfer left stragedy,based upon the green manifesto.....which was promptly 99% jettisoned upon getting into power

The damage Eamonn Ryan has done to the medium/long term future of that party (forced out it's most progressive members)will be a lesson taught to political science students the world over in years to come

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503188#Comment_119503188

Wow, another comment about a lady TD having a baby

😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

Suckit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503033#Comment_119503033

I'll not go with full clown, and as I still believe she is a puppet, I'll meet in the middle, and run with muppet.

Meanwhile the head of them seems to think he knows what direction the public vote will shift to by the next election.

That's just comedy gold. Not because they may see their vote grow, but because Leo says so. He has ran some pretty poor efforts so far. IIRC every election FG have run in or ran someone in, under him, they have performed miserably, including him in his own constituency.

Also worth pointing out his/their ruling out of any coalition deal with Sinn Fein. - That may not be their choice from now on if they ever want to enter the government again. Almost all other countries in the EU (if not all), have no choice but to form a government with parties that they don't agree with. I'm not sure what makes FG think they are so special that they don't need to. The writing is on the wall that times are changing. FG won't be getting in with just Labour or the Greens again.

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503270#Comment_119503270

“Full clown” “puppet” “muppet”

Ahh will leave you to it 🤦‍♂️

Suckit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503313#Comment_119503313

Thanks for letting us know. You'll be missed. 🙄

ILoveYourVibes

If hang on to FG 's coat tails and keeping screaming its us or SF ....yeah for a while longer. Unfortunately.

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503220#Comment_119503220

And? I said her greatest achievement while in office is having a few kids, which isn't a slight on women and more an indictment of what a terrible TD and an even worse MoJ she is. I also had a go at Harris, but sure that doesn't fit the agenda. The 2 of them are glorified councillors.

Anyway this is a FF thread, they are toast at the next election. They are still viewed as a party of old men with snouts in the trough, and have long lost the PR & social media game to SF and FG. As much as i despise them, SF & FG both stand for something and have their bases to work from, what have FF got?

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503973#Comment_119503973

“which isn’t a slight on women”

Go ask a woman and come back to me. It’s a man trying to slag off a woman TD so the best he can come up with is say something about her having a family….🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

At some stage you might join the rest of us in 2022

Before the usual come back, I don’t support FG 👍👍 but I have daughters etc and they shouldn’t have to grow up in an ireland with that type of cr*p fired out

NOG92

While quite late to the game, it looks like the Indo is doing some crystal ball gazing this morning. Although at this stage it is just stating the obvious really...

NOG92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503973#Comment_119503973

To be fair to Helen McEntee, I think it's unfair to diminish some of the wins she's had in Justice. In recent months she's made progress on the tricky area of Hate Crime legislation, she's secured backing to make stalking a stand alone offence and she's tightening laws in consent. These are areas that successive ministers have long fingered. Plus, maybe it's luck more than anything, but she hasn't had any major earthquakes to contend with during her stint in the notoriously career ending Justice brief. So, again while I'm not saying she deserves a Blue Peter badge for doing her job, I do nonetheless think it's important to note that she has steadied the MoJ ship.

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119504146#Comment_119504146

Indeed. All substantial achievements so the crap about her only achievements is maternity leave is frankly mysogynist drivel.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119494930#Comment_119494930

Are you really sure? Name a few and I'll do my best to convince you that you're wrong! Start with the purer than pure Soppy Dems if you're a thrill seeker!

Potatoeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503220#Comment_119503220

I have a friend who’s Brazilian wife went back to Brazil as her visa expired during Covid. McEntee changed the law during Covid freezing visas then went on maternity leave. Her replacement didn’t take over for two to four weeks so nothing happened. No one even seemed to know what to do. Told to return and not overstay her visa, told to stay but it may impact on her next visa being approved. The whole thing dragged on for months.

His wife still cries when she sees her on TV. The whole situation was farcical. Mean while some African woman got on RTE and had a family member brought over with a waiver.

The minister of Justice really should not be going on Maternity leave, just step down. Keep in mind her acting replacement was a woman that does the work and doesn’t get the title.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119504098#Comment_119504098

It will be interesting to see what happens if they both find themselves in opposition after the next election. Are they both going to be attacking the government from entirely standalone perspectives? Will look a bit odd as they will be coming from a very similar 'pragmatic, centrist' place ideologically. I think we are likely to see senior figures from both parties calling for, if not a merger, a close, ongoing anti-SF alliance, although I think it's very unlikely to actually happen

NOG92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119510653#Comment_119510653

I am so sorry to hear that. I hate these types of stories because it shows the human side to immigration and how something we often look at as being bureaucratic hurdles, can have profound impacts on people’s lives. And again, please don’t think I am in any way defending gov policy or indeed saying that McEntee is flawless, but I do believe she has been one of this government’s best performing Ministers overall and has achieved some progress in the role.

I don’t however agree with you about Ministers not taking maternity leave. I think that they are entitled to take time and have a family/personal life just like any other worker. However, without doubt the Government needs to have better protocols and legal certainties around facilitating Ministers who avail of such leave whilst in office.

NOG92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119514023#Comment_119514023

I personally see a merger being more likely than not. That’s not to say that I don’t underestimate the resistance that will come from within both parties to such a rapprochement. However, I think this opposition will be overcome as both parties begin to see that it may well be the best option to secure their respective futures going forward. I think too it would result in the realignment of Irish politics along traditional left-right lines, as we see in other European political environments, something which I think can only benefit the island.

NOG92

What do we reckon...will Troy be forced to walk? If the Greens insist on his removal, I can't see FF nor FG putting up much resistance tbh...

Potatoeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119516375#Comment_119516375

I don’t agree. Maternity and long term sick leave is not something ministers should be allowed. They should step down and reassume the position again. It doesn’t mean they don’t get paid either. They could only hold the role for potentially a single duration of government rule and be missing for a portion of that.

Someone else praised her work on hate crime legislation, I really don’t see the point. These are usually linked to more serious crimes. The particular crime that kicked this off was the killing of two gay men. That’s a double murder, adding a hate crime charge onto it doesn’t achieve anything.