Upfront with Katie Hannon

Denny61

It's totally drivel.just an old format rehashed...audience cherry picked as well as panel.. nothing new here ..its just what the public are thinking anyway....move on ..waste of taxpayers money..anyone who finds this stimulating has never watched much political debate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180240#Comment_120180240

Yeah it is too rushed, maybe could do with being a bit longer. But it’s more lively than anything RTE has hosted any time recently.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180128#Comment_120180128

Oh Jaysus they’d be afraid of the heckling 😂

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180225#Comment_120180225

We had a slew of good presenters who could chair debate very well. Eg Brian Farrell. Met him at the vets bringing his cat in not long before he was due to present Today Tonight, I think it was. The vet was delayed by a road accident case, and Brian was in a panic to get cat home and then into RTE. We largely have the very opposite type of broadcasters now.

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180306#Comment_120180306

With Question Time they record it at 8pm and tour the country with it for different mix of guests. I don't know why RTE go live with it at 10.30pm, has to limit availability of potential guests who have work the next morning.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180271#Comment_120180271

There's an Orwell quote that goes "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." Who'd have thought it would be McDowell doing it? He does seem to have upset the narrative being pushed by FFG. That chap from Lismore was good too.

Regards...jmcc

Clon63

Big imorovement overall. Both main topics were interesting and could have gone on for longer. Agree that its like Questions and Answers that I just about remember. The panel was a good mix. McDowell was good on the international protection/ecinomic migrant issue.

Audience seemed very hand picked though. The female of the couple who spoke about trying to buy a house annoyed me. She said that there were onlyl 10 houses in their price range in Dublin. She said they were both working as hard as they could so assume they would be on 40k each - about average wage iirc. That means they would get 280k mortgage and with 20k deposit could afford a house for 300k easy enough. I did tbe search on myhime.ie and there are almist 900 homes in Dublin fir 300k or less - not 10 like sge said Thet may not be her first ir 850th choice but there are some available. Why undermine your case like that? Lucky they have Mom's apartment!!

Total sympathy with the single lady abd the renterd who are totally priced out.

washman3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180237#Comment_120180237

Will you still be laughing though when the taxpayer will have to foot the bill...??

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180370#Comment_120180370

Maybe the 10 available homes were within walking distance to mammy or something?

thesandeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180324#Comment_120180324

Not really as most of the guests will probably be politicians.

Fred Cryton

God how i miss the PD's...McDowell spot on there with the 20% from Georgia and 14% from Albania - clearly and obviously economic migrants taking advantage of the stupid Irish and their ridiculous asylum system.

We badly need a moderate proper centre-right common sense party that simply addresses basic rule of law issues like this instead of burying head in the sand and parroting the woke line.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180929#Comment_120180929

Yeh, let's bring back a party whose policies and shoring up of FF led to us going off a cliff. Can't wait.

Patrick2010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180083#Comment_120180083

Ah not that crap again, we can opt out.

https://ireland.representation.ec.europa.eu/news-and-events/news/ireland-voluntarily-agrees-take-part-eu-schemes-resettle-refugees-2021-02-28_en

Factsheet28 February 2021

Ireland's participation in EU schemes to relocate and resettle refugees

Ireland voluntarily agreed to fully participate in the EU relocation and resettlement schemes set up in response to the migrant crisis that peaked in 2015.

The EU has never forced Ireland to take in refugees or immigrants.

In fact, Ireland has no obligation to take in refugees as, along with Denmark, it has an opt-in or opt-out clause on justice and immigration measures under the Lisbon Treaty.

However, Ireland voluntarily agreed to fully participate in the EU relocation and resettlement schemes set up in response to the migrant crisis that peaked in 2015.

hawley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120181153#Comment_120181153

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic broke European law when they failed to give refuge to asylum seekers arriving in southern Europe, often having fled war in Syria and Iraq, the EU’s top court has ruled.

The three central European countries now face possible fines for refusing to take a share of refugees, after EU leaders forced through mandatory quotas to relocate up to 160,000 asylum seekers at the height of the 2015 migration crisis.

Issuing its judgment on Thursday, the European court of justice said the three member states “had failed to fulfil their obligations under European Union law”. The Czech Republic took in just 12 asylum seekers, while Hungary and Poland refused to take a single person.

The court rejected the legal argument that Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic were entitled to disregard EU law in order to maintain public safety, law and order. None of the countries had proved it was necessary to invoke that opt-out clause in the EU treaties, the court concluded.

The European commission is now entitled to embark on legal action to impose fines on the three member states.

The decision to impose mandatory quotas of asylum seekers was taken in the teeth of fierce opposition from Hungary and the Czech Republic. After the nationalist Law and Justice party was elected in October 2015, Poland joined its neighbours in opposing the scheme.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/law/2020/apr/02/eu-court-rules-three-countries-czech-republic-hungary-poland-broke-law-over-refugee-quotas

If the EU always allow member states to do as they like as regards refugees, why did the EC take this case?

farmingquestion

The show is far too rushed, similar to what Claire Byrnes was. What was the actual need to bring another topic (Miggeldys) homework comments onto the show when people were already rushed and told hurry up when asking their question/comment.

Quite worrying when they all said there is no way we can put a cap or limit on refugees. We are a country of 5m. There are hundreds of millions of people in awful conditions in the world...and we have no way of stopping them coming here if they wanted? 1m people could come here next year and we have no say in that? Meanwhile, 120 people can block a housing development.

Where is this country headed? What does this country look like in 5 years with this insane amount of asylum seekers which is going to grow and grow as more and more of them come here and let everyone else know how soft a touch Ireland is.

Carroll McNeill defending the passport ripper uppers. Why? Why defend those scammers?

Also I really wish someone would challenge this whole "far right" thing that's happening in the media. People can't stop the far right attaching themselves to protests or causes. Michael McDowell called out economic migrants last night...the far right would agree with him. Does that mean Michael McDowell should no longer hold that view?

The same people in the far right now, were also part of the anti water charge protests. But I don't remember the media calling the protests far right protests. It's entirely acceptable for people to be against economic migrants posing as asylum seekers, it's entirely fine for people to be against the level of Georgians and Albanians coming here as asylum seekers, it's entirely acceptable for people to be against the level of refugees we are taking as we clearly don't have the space or services for them! We can't stop the far right attaching to that and being extremists.

No one calls housing protests far left, where you have communists wanting to end capitalism and think they should all get free houses.

Patrick2010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120181313#Comment_120181313

Because unlike Ireland they didn't have a derogation plus unlike Ireland they didn't want to take any.

"Issuing its judgment on Thursday, the European court of justice said the three member states “had failed to fulfil their obligations under European Union law”. The Czech Republic took in just 12 asylum seekers, while Hungary and Poland refused to take a single person."

farmingquestion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120181313#Comment_120181313

How much was the fine?

Government go on about a moral obligation but what about the moral obligation to its own citizens?

I don't remember the government shipping covid vaccines out to the poor countries who had none while young and healthy people here were getting their 2nd and 3rd vaccines?

AMKC

Just watched it there now. Same old same old. Nothing new. Did not think it was anything great.

Maybe next week's episode will be better.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120181313#Comment_120181313

Yeah,I'll take the fine please.

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180240#Comment_120180240

Nothing new there, I’m afraid.

Hannon was never a good choice

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120183536#Comment_120183536

What were you expecting as a matter of interest?

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120183821#Comment_120183821

A good proper debate and yes it needs a bigger audience. This is like a light version of the show that Pat Kenny used to have Frontline was it?

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180240#Comment_120180240

Just had a look on the player, and you are correct.

Bad set up on the set…. Everyone had to look at each other sideways and lean away… not good.

Especially the women with the hair getting in their eyes.

Hannon waving her hands around into the camera….looked and sounded very nervous.

Make up of the panel was poor….what was the Syrian girl doing on it.

Only person on the panel who was impressive was Carroll-McNeill….the rest had no influence ..just there to make up the numbers…popping out stuff with no one to take them to task.

Audience very subdued and wooden…last guy excepted.

Hannon rushing things too much, too many topics included… that’s on the production staff.

Lookit…. It was the first one but a lorra lorra need for improvement

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120183874#Comment_120183874

I agree to an extent. Needs to drop down to one issue.

Hannon is the makings of a good chairperson I feel...informed and knowledgeable about the topics as P.K was/is. Her interjections kept it focused even though she was in too much of a hurry.

Has potential.

Galwayguy35

McDowell was spot on about letting people in with no passports and the economic migrants.

MacNeill was never going to agree with him on it and she knows she has no need to, the buses of young unvetted men aren't arriving in to disturb the good folks in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.

farmingquestion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120184080#Comment_120184080

Hannon let herself down big time with her constant questioning of the Lismore guy if he saw the far right at the protest.

1. I wouldn't know if there were protestors from a certain group at a protest, they're not walking around with arm bands.
2. Even if they were there, what was Hannon inferring? If you can delegitimize a protest just through the presence of the far right, then the far right could show up at a housing protest and then everyone hates housing protestors right?

People are against open borders, unlimited numbers of migrants, economic migrants posing as refugees, their local areas population being increased by 10% overnight with no services available as it is. The far right, racists and extremists, are going to tag onto those ideas also. What should people do? Give up and just be delighted with all the above?

No one ever mentions the presence of the far left at protests. No one ever calls out the far left at housing protests who want to seize other peoples private property, who are communists, who want to destroy capitalism. No one ever called out the far left at the abortion referendum who wanted abortion on demand at any stage of the pregnancy. No one ever calls out the far left at pride marches where people support men dressed as hyper sexualised women dancing in front of kids.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120185756#Comment_120185756

I didn't hear her 'constantly questioning' on that issue. Can you support this contention?

I also think those who felt like this:

People are against open borders, unlimited numbers of migrants, economic migrants posing as refugees, their local areas population being increased by 10% overnight with no services available as it is. The far right, racists and extremists, are going to tag onto those ideas also. What should people do? Give up and just be delighted with all the above?

got adequate time to express their views, both in the audience and on the panel.

farmingquestion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120185782#Comment_120185782

She asked the Lismore guy at least 3 times whether the far right was at the protest.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120185820#Comment_120185820

She asked him until she got an answer...which is what I would expect of any chairperson. She did the same to others too. Lismore is the same size-ish as where I live. If there was a protest of the number at Lismore, I would know if there were strangers at it, and I would know if strangers were leading the protests.

As a viewer I was happy that the question was asked and answered. And I would expect it to be asked of any of these protests, it's important to know.

farmingquestion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120185839#Comment_120185839

Not everyone knows everyone living in a town, no matter how small.

This country is a joke and there's no accountability. The chap rightly said the planning laws are being broken by it being used as a DP centre while there's houses lying empty that were originally supposed to be used as a retirement village yet now it's not but it can't be used for housing because it's not in the planning to be used for any other purpose.

This country is headed in a bad way with the way things are going. Government are lucky we have so much corp tax money they can throw at people to keep them happy. In a couple of years though, the corp tax take will be way down and they won't be able throw money around to keep people happy and more and more people will be protesting.