Disgraceful Norma Foley interview. Why are politicians let away without answering the question.

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 2:32pm #1

I was listening to that lying toe rag last night Norma Foley, she was asked questions with regards to her engagement with Bus Eireann and the gobsh1t decision to allow free public transport for all kids and she said she thought that they (Bus Eireann) could handle it. She was asked directly again did she engage with Bus Eireann, her response "ah they did a great job during covid", she was asked again and the amount of sh1t coming out of her mouth was disgusting how our politicians can bare face lie and spin and refuse to answer a question and get away with it is just horrendous and lets be clear not all kids who are approved for a place or met the criteria to be on the bus has one. I know 2 families out my way with kids with autism and they have no place so Foley is a bare faced liar. Its this kind of stupid thinking from the government that keeps happening.

They have a brain wave of oh lets give every kid free transport without doing any due diligence or knock on effect and it is the same with an introduction of carbon tax on petrol / diesel with no other valid alternative for the vast majority of people living outside of a major city not to mention the fact that petrol / diesel is already after going through the roof in cost. How can these people be held accountable when all we can do is vote them out and their ride off into the sunset with a pension most tax payers can only dream of.

Boggles · 21-09-2022 2:39pm

Bet she knows how to use a paragraph though.

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 2:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646792#Comment_119646792

Fixed it just for you and Norma

maccored · 21-09-2022 2:43pm

"How can these people be held accountable when all we can do is vote them out"

Might help if the country stops voting them in

McGrath5 · 21-09-2022 2:44pm

Its not uncommon for politicians to dodge the question, depends on the interviewer if they let them away with it or not.

Try and calm yourself down OP, will do your blood pressure no harm.

Allinall · 21-09-2022 2:45pm

What difference would it have made if she did answer the question?

spaceHopper · 21-09-2022 2:45pm

It's because it makes good radio or TV but if the interviewer pushes it to hard then they won't be able to get any government TD's or ministers on again, so they will only ever take it so far.

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 2:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646811#Comment_119646811

You only have to look at what parties get voted in on and what they actually deliver and even now we can see the over promising of the shinners (not a hope in hell they will implement the majority of what they are setting out to do) to realise that people are not held accountable for promises made , they can be voted out but with a nice fat pension.

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 2:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646817#Comment_119646817

It would of shown a pattern of how government put the cart before the horse with no thought of unintended consequences to their decisions. Carbon tax on petrol/diesel is another idea that is stupid as a lot of people have no other means of transport than the car.

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 2:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646818#Comment_119646818

Sure she didnt even stick around when the Labour TD was on.

spaceHopper · 21-09-2022 2:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646831#Comment_119646831

Her minders probably move her on, they only let her out when they have too

NIMAN · 21-09-2022 2:50pm

It's a trait of many politicians.

But the interviewers tend to always let them away with it, so it'll continue.

I would really love an interviewer to just interrupt and say, "right I've given you 2 opportunities to answer the question and you've decided not to answer both times, so I'm just going to stop the interview now as you are wasting everyone's time ", and end the interview. Would be quality.

But will never happen.

Allinall · 21-09-2022 2:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646828#Comment_119646828

But you certainly seem to know that already.

Are you saying other people don't know, and looking for Norma Foley to confirm it for them?

Judge politicians on their actions, not words.

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 2:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646813#Comment_119646813

She was asked at least 3 times and she wouldn't answer the question

blanch152 · 21-09-2022 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646828#Comment_119646828

I would guess that you haven't considered the fact that taxation is used to discourage behaviour.

We have large taxes on cigarettes because they are toxic to health. Nobody think that it is stupid because some people are addicted to cigarettes.

Similarly, those who are addicted to their cars, whether that be through choosing to live in an area without public transport or a desire not to be down with the plebs, and ignore the toxicity of climate change, well, they need to be taxed to discourage their behaviour.

maccored · 21-09-2022 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646819#Comment_119646819

i KNOW what FF/FG/Lab?Greens dont deliver on. SF deserve a chance. Anyone who points to the north and claims its an example of SF in power will need to educate themselves a bit.

Boggles · 21-09-2022 2:57pm

I'm actually convinced she is a cyborg, no human could be completely devoid of all personality.

cml387 · 21-09-2022 2:57pm

Quite often the most revealing responses to a question come from a softly softly approach.

It was Gay Byrne throwing softball questions at Padraig Flynn go him into the mood to reveal how lucky he was with a all the house he had.

The famous Jeremy Paxman / Michael Howard interview where he asked the same question twelve times got us no nearer revealing the truth.

Podge_irl · 21-09-2022 3:01pm

From all the continuing outrage, you would assume there must be electoral demand for politicians who answer everything directly and as openly and honestly as possible. I am sure they will go far.

21-09-2022 3:04pm

Should be replaced by Harris in the next cabinet reshuffle. He was obviously out of his depth in Health but has been much more comfortable and competent in Further and Higher Education.

21-09-2022 3:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646871#Comment_119646871

That's why McInerney is so good, she doesn't move on after the first dodge. Unlike other viewers, she pushes a second and third time leaving the viewer in doubt that that the interviewee has dodged the question.

She hands them their own shovel.

Neyite · 21-09-2022 3:16pm

Rural areas need more bus services. Most of us around here would love to stick our kid on the bus and not have to queue at the set down area at school. I'd have applied for a bus ticket if I'd known. If the car breaks down I have no other mode of transport and our house is too far away from the school to walk small children to (6km) and there's no hard shoulder, footpath or cycle lane to use those options.

All school children should have a bus ticket as a given. That way it could ease congestion on the roads by a long way you only have to see the ease of traffic when schools and universities are on their holidays.

The problem was that Bus Eireann were out of the loop.

21-09-2022 3:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646884#Comment_119646884

Yes - the combination of a United Ireland and the magic Money Tree will solve all of our problems! Even the school bus one!

Furthermore, as we all know, Sinn Fein TDs never dodge any hard questions that they're asked in interviews!

jmayo · 21-09-2022 3:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058264325/disgraceful-norma-foley-interview-why-are-politicians-let-away-without-answering-the-question

So which is causing you greater concern, the fact that the tool Foley would not answer a question or that fact that there is free bus travel for all kids?

My kids are availing of it this year and as a taxpayer that tends to get SFA in return for my taxes, I am glad of it, rather than having to try find the hundreds of quid every year that it did cost.

Oh and here is the best bit, you officially only got a concession, you were never guaranteed a place on a bus.

What the fook was that about?

How many other services do you fork out money for and you are not even guaranteed the service?

It was like a fooking lottery.

Likewise we have copped on to fact that teachers in local national school would demand the kids show up with a huge number of copybooks (3 or 4 sums, 78 or 8 normal), some of which were then confiscated only yo be later handed out to kids that didn't have any.

Well fook that for a carry on, I work hard for anything we have and I will be fooked if I am working hard for the kids of some parents that can spend a couple of nights a week in the pub and 5 nights a week in the chipper.

So there that is my rant.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646929#Comment_119646929

He is in a nonsense portfolio that even a chimp from Dublin Zoo could look passable in.

crossman47 · 21-09-2022 3:27pm

As I understand it, you were guaranteed a seat if you qualified by reason of the distance from your local school. Concessionary tickets were for those who did not automatically qualify but could use spare seats. There are fewer spare seats now because the "free travel" meant every parent signed up, some on the basis they might need it one day. Unintended consequence!

Boggles · 21-09-2022 3:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646929#Comment_119646929

That was a role created for him, we have nothing to benchmark it against.

But what has he actually done?

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 3:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646876#Comment_119646876

Not until there is a valid alternative I have called you out on this and every time you have shied away. We don't have the housing for rent or sale in large towns/cities for everyone to live there, there are currently about 600/800 houses/apartments to rent in the whole of the country we have a population of over 5 million, do the math. We don't have the public transport to support the idea of not using cars. Comparing to cigarettes is not really an apt comparison.

21-09-2022 3:59pm

She revealed more than she should with her answer.

The answer was to the effect of they (buses) coped with it during Covid.

And there is the modern approach to screwing the system into the ground, exploiting any emergency concession and demanding that emergency working practices be kept forever.

And it is deliberate. And it is something they congratulate each other on at the higher reaches of govt, the civil service and media.

Norma thought she had a nice populist win (has she been called populist?) and it has blown up in her face because the system cannot cope.

It’s like running the health service at 120% capacity. It’s why unions are so wary of accepting emergency working conditions which by definition can only be carried fir a short time because of the deeply cynical exploitation that they know will follow.

And children and families suffer.

fliball123 · 21-09-2022 4:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646884#Comment_119646884

They do deserve a chance but their math is way off. The amount of money your talking about for some of their proposals is just not there, but as I say they deserve a chance as the current shower have shown to be fluffers. Its a sad state we find ourselves in that the current incumbents are liars and the ones going to be voted in are making promises that they simply will not be able to keep. It will cost too much.

Silentcorner · 21-09-2022 4:06pm

Norma Foley has the look of a Minister who is being completely dominated by her Department mandarins!! She is a first term td, shouldn't be allowed near a ministry, I can't think of a worse Cabinet in our history, and it ain't going to get any better anytime soon!