What’s your most controversial opinion? **Read OP** **Mod Note in Post #3372**

I have a few.

I think Transgenderism is far more complex than current views dictate. The power of belonging and also finding a reason for how you feel can lead some young people to take on a different identity. Especially when it seems trendy in some circles.

I also believe that it can be linked to mental health. Perhaps a person can't inhabit their body because it was abused and so seek to distance themselves. Or maybe they find it difficult to be who they are and everything that makes them as they are so they feel a different gender is the answer.

I think the lack of discourse around the possible links to mental illness is a real loss to understanding and learning. It makes sense however because there are those who actually are transgender and it's very straightforward. They simply know on a very deep level they should be a man or they should be a woman.

So it's difficult to be able to have such conversations without causing hurt. If a person wants to be referred to as he or she or they I will do so but I won't believe you are a gender A when the fact is you are gender B.

Immigration: I would close direct provision centres and allow those who have been living in them for 5 years or more to remain in the country. Also those who are really in fear of their lives should they return home. The rest will be sent back to where they came from.

We cap the amount of people coming in to the country. It doesn't matter if you are fleeing unrest or war because we simply don't have the space. Economic migrants are not allowed entry.

Crime: Arm the Gardaí. Bring back height requirements and if not already in operation then regular fitness checks. Mandatory life sentence for rape and child abuse. Mandatory life sentence for murder. Judges will be able to be removed from their position by the Minister for Justice.

Society: Assisted reproduction should not be paid for by the state. The 3 day wait period to access abortions should be removed. Surrogacy needs to be allowed and regulated. It will have rules. There will be a legal requirement on the part of the parents to provide care and support to their gestational carrier.

mikemac2

A politican has a supporter who rounds up a few lads and fills a drop of diesel into a van and they put up posters. And our opposition parties go into meltdown as if they have gotcha!

Cries of cronyism from Pearse Doherty, the media went into overdrive. Backbenchers that nobody ever heard of demanding how many posters, cost per poster, hour per worker, how does that divide among workers compared to minimum wage. A shame this sort of analysis wasn't put into the National Childrens hospital.

If this is the worst scandal in the Dail in 2023 then we are a nation of saints. We must be a very boring country if this sort of thing passes for political scandal 😴

My controversial opinion is 10 days was wasted on this nonsense. Probably not controversial here but it was the biggest story in the state for a while

...Ghost...

I have 3 in the one area:

A woman with a penis (and xy chromosomes) is a man with mental health issues.

A man with a vagina (and xx chromosomes) is a woman with mental health issues.

We should be allowed to discuss gender based mental health issues without being cancelled or called phobic.

Who is Byron Slim Gypsy!!

This is most disconcerting

Mam of 4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289115#Comment_120289115

Slimy... Are you closing your account? Maybe that would explain the changing of your name.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289139#Comment_120289139

No! 😬😬

Mam of 4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289144#Comment_120289144

Oh .. 🤣

That's a bit odd then alright 🤣

FintanMcluskey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287679#Comment_120287679

Crime: Arm the Gardaí. Bring back height requirements

If you think height requirements are required, women should not be allowed on the force.

kneemos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120288740#Comment_120288740

Was thinking the same at the time. If this is what passes for a scandal we've come a long way.

I'm sure SF will up the game if they get their hands on the controls.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289254#Comment_120289254

I'm sure there are plenty of women over 5'7. I can't remember what it used to be.

FintanMcluskey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289274#Comment_120289274

Surely the height is in correlation with physical strenght?

What is the reason otherwise?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289282#Comment_120289282

Yes it is. I'm 5'4 and pretty useless physically. I have the strength of a flee. If I were to bulk up and work on that strength then I don't think I would be a match for a taller woman of equal physicality. Although perhaps men only Gardaí would be an idea 🤔 I would need to think that one through.

SlowBlowin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289393#Comment_120289393

I was very pro death penalty for murder, and would argue for it with my friends. Then my father was murdered and after a few months had had gone by I realised I was now against it, and some 17 years later I still feel the same.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270268#Comment_120270268

i now know you don’t win Oscar’s on quality alone , you also need to play the game , and mcdonagh is a genius at the game and has done everything possible to get on the Oscar list .

eggy81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120274823#Comment_120274823

What are their decisions dictated by is the question.

castletownman

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is nowhere near one of the top comedies that it's made out to be. I'm late to it, but genuinely struggling to start season 6. Any 'iconic' moments appeared to feature early in the run, and even the best episodes have so many lull scenes. Too many times, the main characters just shout out at each other (Dee is especially annoying), and a potentially funny scene segways to an unfunny sub-plot. That rickety cricket character is terrible too.

Frasier is far, far superior.

Sgt Hartman

The whole Transgenderism phenomenon has become totally out of control. Mainly because nobody is willing to stand up to the movement and call them out on their most absurd/belligerent theories. Case in point is Sam Smith who has become too big for his/her/their/it's boots and had the brass neck to demand that Tom Jones apologize for referring to Sam as a "he". Sam Smith can gtfo.

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289803#Comment_120289803

Only Bigots and Phobes talk about the T word.

Colourful Nazis shout loudly when people don't agree with their ideology.

Jequ0n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120286845#Comment_120286845

It’s a business, nothing else.

cuttingtimber22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120291056#Comment_120291056

So is prostitution.

Bobblehats

“Pantie Pliss is up next and lookin for a man”

-listen I’m not sayin am some kinda phobic but have barricaded myself into the house here and am sweating bullets.

Jequ0n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120291696#Comment_120291696

So?

cuttingtimber22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120291788#Comment_120291788

The fact that somethings is a ‘business’ does not mean it gets a free pass.

There is a hierarchy of dodgy business practices - surrogacy is by no means the worst but that does not mean it is completely ok. That is why regulation is needed.

Jequ0n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292364#Comment_120292364

No, it’s a business like any other. The only difference is that you are attaching your personal morals to it.

But fair enough, it is your controversial opinion after all.

cj maxx

After watching a documentary on the 911 attacks by Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 author . He makes some good points and co conclusions about. It was a fascinating watch. Including reasons why the US government did it and the whitewash of the official investigation.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120286622#Comment_120286622

It's many years now since I engaged with the mental health system here. My doctor was and still is excellent. He referred me to a psychiatrist and from there I received regular CBT from a psychologist. My memories of the experience are mixed. The psychologist had all the warmth of a stone and I'm not sure if going there really helped.

The biggest change occurred a number of years later when I sought out a private therapist and it was the best money I ever spent. I was fairly broke at the time but going to therapy was the priority.

When it came to immediate help, it didn't work like that for me. I had to stop seeking that fix. It was long and sometimes painful. As the sessions went along so too did the months and life continued to happen. Slowly I was getting better at managing myself and more importantly becoming at ease with who I am. All of me.

I would very much recommend Amethyst that you find a psychotherapist and engage with them weekly. There absolutely is help out there. If that idea isn't possible for you then there are a number of things you can do to help build up your self esteem and in doing so maybe maybe the lows will become manageable.

and in the morning Diamonds of Frost

*Sweet divine I can't even put my name down here without it changing to fecking slimy gypsy!*

Jequ0n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120286622#Comment_120286622

Well thankfully the psychologist you will soon be seeing on a weekly basis will make a difference. You have come so far already

Psychlops

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289803#Comment_120289803

It a mental illness.

Antipathetic

Again, I suspect not really an unpopular opinion, but from my recent experience most courier companies are completely useless either they don't turn up when they are supposed to or they deliver your item to a local shop or drop off point because they are too lazy to actually bring it to your house.

The only decent delivery company is An Post I've never had a problem dealing with them and they always deliver as promised we should insist that more companies use them for delivery.