What is the biggest issues/concerns facing Ireland today?

Uncharted2

What is the biggest issues/concerns facing Ireland today?

Sammy2012

It's a toss up between housing and healthcare in my opinion. I went with health care as thankfully we have a house, but if one of us was depending on the public health care system in the morning I would not be very confident in the outcome.

buried

Business corporations/Banks/Vulture funds thinking and also doing what they want and literally laughing at the Irish People while they do it.

RTE did it today at the PAC but some greasy international corporation is doing it every day of the week anyways, so why not?

Who is going to sort it out?

Nobody

DellyBelly

I went other...think the rte scandal is far greater than all the other selections

paxreseuropa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058302960/what-is-the-biggest-issues-concerns-facing-ireland-today

<snip> - do not comment about moderation in thread

Anyway on the topic; I'm gonna have to go with Housing/Homelessness: for me if someone has a place to call home they can fix all of their other problems a hell of a lot easier. So, yeah I'd say that's the main issue in the country at the moment.

With that out of the way we could focus heavily on more pressing issues such as inflation and healthcare. I do think all three of these are close in importance so there wouldn't be much between them but Housing/Homelessness just about pips the other two.

prunudo

Other, it connects most of the other options, but I think the biggest problem is the glacial pace things take in this country. The red tape, bureaucracy and inefficiencies with paperwork in government departments takes needlessly long, and delays the people who want to progress things from doing so in a timely fashion.

Beasty

Just so there is no misunderstanding, if this turns into discussion of the above topics where we already have dedicated threads this thread will be closed

We are not having another thread discussing the likes of housing, immigration, LGBT, Hate Speech, The Government or a United Ireland. Use the dedicated threads. I made this very clear in another thread that was closed over the past day or two

I.R.Y.E.D

Mental health and addiction issues, not just illegal substances, but prescription analgesics.

mikemac2

Healthcare

I saw a photo/scan this evening of a young girls spine with scoliosis. It realy should have been treated 5 years ago but here we are now and the young girl is in pain.

The staff are there, the facilites are there and I know this as some medical professionals work extra shifts to do these procedures if public can fund it. I believe they do the procedure at night or during their free time anyway and also a lower cost to the State. But with the billions the HSE have this cannot be done it seems.

McHardcore

When the worlds scientists are warning about something, we should probably listen.

murpho999

The biggest issues facing this country is housing and healthcare.

That's because it impacts all citizens of the state in their day to day life.

Of course on a forum like this "immigration" is the issue, driven by media and poor politicians who scapegoat immigrants for the country' s other problems when the reality is that immigration is required, enriches a country's cultural fabric and has very little impact on current Irish people's s day to day life.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120802692#Comment_120802692

“ enriches a country’s cultural fabric “

that’s not a reality , it’s just progressive dogma

Sleepy

Other. The main issues facing us are ones we can't address as an individual nation: climate change and global capitalism.

Sure, we can implement laws and modify our taxation system in order to properly fund public services but doing so risks killing the golden goose of FDI.

Most of the western world needs a socialist overhaul to undo the increasing centralisation of wealth we've been seeing since the 80's. It won't be universally popular and with most of the media being owned by those the status quo benefits will be very difficult to change without going down the road of revolution but when Forbes estimates that there are 2,640 billionaires in a world where the World Bank estimates over 9% of the global population lives in poverty, it's going to happen one way or the other.

Perhaps Climate Change will force the issue. As more of the world becomes uninhabitable and climate disasters increase, we'll see increased migration, lots of unrest and the sight of cretins like the Kardashians, the Trumps or the Russian Oligarchs swanning around in their private jets may eventually start to foment the anger it deserves rather than the delusional aspiration so many of the population currently seem to feel towards them.

Brussels Sprout

I voted for Housing because it's the biggest problem today but the biggest problem in Ireland and everywhere else in the medium to long-term is Climate Breakdown and Biodiversity loss. Everything else just seems like rearranging items on the Titanic. If your #1 issue is immigration (currently the top voted item) then that is only going to be exacerbated by the countries who are most affected becoming more and more unlivable.

lizzyjane

Immigration in my opinion, especially at the level its risen to in the past decade or so.

I read earlier that Muhammed was the most popular boys baby name in Galway last year. Bit mental that.

freshpopcorn

I'd say housing/homelessness.

Which will result in further mental health issues.

Tell me how

A thread like this with Immigration as one of the voting options but not Climate Change says it all really.

Tony EH

Housing, hands down.

JP Liz V1

I would say healthcare

BattleCorp

Reading Boards.ie, you'd have to think Tubs and RTE is the greatest calamity facing mankind at the moment.

castletownman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120802282#Comment_120802282

But when two of our richest men are preparing for a cage fight against each other, you'd wonder where the money is being focused.

Everlong1

No mention of crime so I voted other.

The idea that LGBT rights is one of the biggest issues in Ireland is a joke. We already have gay marriage and a raft of legislation protecting the gay community from discrimination. What more do they want or need?

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120814064#Comment_120814064

Ahh it doesn’t, that’s what the ‘Other’ option is for, so anyone who wishes to can offer an opinion from their own perspective. Climate change wouldn’t be on my radar either at all, Education and Employment should be top of the agenda IMO, but in national exit polls in 2020, climate change, education and employment just weren’t top priorities for most people in the way they voted -

https://www.rte.ie/news/election-2020/2020/0209/1114111-election-exit-poll/

suvigirl

Inequality.

The rich are getting richer, the poor are being more and more marginalised and left behind.

People's health depends on how much money they have.

People care less and less about others and only care about themselves.

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120813831#Comment_120813831

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120814064#Comment_120814064

Lets say tomorrow the entire world buys into this climate nonsense.

China/Russia/Brazil/USA all decide to go zero emissions. How much can we expect the climate to change in 5/10/15/20/50 years? What will the earth cool by?

zell12

Housing - unless you have a place to live, you cannot actually live any sort of life

Wordwide it is overpopulation

ArthurDayne

#1 issue must be sustainability. Whether you actually believe that the climate is affected by mankind or otherwise, there are clear socioeconomic and political reasons beyond just 'saving the planet' as to why clean renewable energy (and an element of national self-sufficiency in generating it) should be at the top of all agendas. The war in Ukraine and Russia's energy leverage over Europe is one recent lesson on the importance of this, but we are facing into decades now where it is likely that changing climate conditions will either prompt people to up sticks or indeed forcibly displace them. So even if you are someone who thinks immigration is the #1 issue, this is a root issue which will cause emigration from increasingly dry or increasingly flooded areas etc.

I think the #2 issue is late stage capitalism. While capitalism has had its successes in both the cultivation of better living standards and social progress, it has created its own cycles that are hard to break from. Those who have done well from it have pulled ladders up from all but their own families, leaving others locked out. The capitalist narrative of "I worked for everything I have" has blurred the acknowledgement of privilege and has fed a view that those who are not well-off are simply lazy ne'er-do-wells. The fact that immigrants are often slotting into the "lower" position of the economic pyramid has also blurred the fact that this is an issue of class, not race or culture. Left unchecked and unaddressed, this will fester into hatred.

Cluedo Monopoly

Taxpayer revenue waste and corruption.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120828927#Comment_120828927

Since you didn't even pretend to ask that question in good faith I'm not going to give you the courtesy of a response.

Everlong1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827211#Comment_120827211

We have one of the most generous welfare systems in the world in this country. Where is this massive cohort of "the poor and left behind" you're talking about?

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120830087#Comment_120830087

Good one. No one knows. You want trillions spent on some pie in the sky fantasy, that you have no idea will work or not. Same as the scientists who were asked the same in the US Senate by Ted Cruz as far as I can remember. They also refused to answer, as they also had no idea and no answers either.

Strumms

Levels and manner of immigration influences the quality and quantity of housing and healthcare that can be offered.

Uncharted2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120814064#Comment_120814064

Climate change is nothing new.

tesla_newbie

Depends which paper you read , if you read the Irish times, then climate change is the big issue

if you don’t read the Irish times, immigration as the lack of accommodation is inextricably linked to a huge increase in demand for same

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843350#Comment_120843350

Neither is immigration or housing.

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843350#Comment_120843350

No. They’ve been wrong about it for decades now.

https://cei.org/blog/wrong-again-50-years-of-failed-eco-pocalyptic-predictions/

Richard Hillman

The degeneration of society. Lower social standards. People cry about social conservatism but a bit of structure keeps society together. I'm not saying bring back Archbishop McQuaid but if it continues to diminish we'll end up with a failed society like San Francisco or LA.

gmisk

I went for healthcare, I suppose people's choices are coloured by their particular situation. The Irish healthcare system is an unmitigated shambles, given the amount invested.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843423#Comment_120843423

Everything traditional is bad and must go

batman_oh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843423#Comment_120843423

I see it every day in the city centre and living beside Ballymun. There were always scum, but now they basically just do whatever they want and know nobody will stop them (especially teenagers who are untouchable). Open use of crack pipes across from me on Pearse Street at 4pm when I'm waiting for the bus to go home is also a nice thing to watch.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843414#Comment_120843414

Last week had the 7 hottest recorded days on the planet.

New York, Netherlands, Mexico, India, Spain, England all had massively impactful events because of the changing climate in the last week.

It's playing out pretty much exactly as the scientists have said it would.

And all the people who complain about immigrants taking over while simultaneously saying there's a disproportionally high number of mixed couples on TV, are going to spend the rest of their lives watching refugee crises after refugee crises as people in poorer countries suffer first the consequences of the changing climate. These clowns literally undermine the presence of what will be the biggest driver of human movement in our lifetimes.

Grayson

For the simple scale of it I'd say housing/homelessness. I'd say it affects more people, in a direct manner, than any of the others.

I would have also included the climate on that poll.

Thing is that there's so many that are interlinked. A government that cared about social housing would be very likely to have better healthcare. They'd probably also help minority rights.

Our biggest problem is having a government that just doesn't care.

z80CPU

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843423#Comment_120843423

And Seattle.

There's a Facebook page

" Seattle looks like $hit "

creeper1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843406#Comment_120843406

Yes, it is in relative terms. I'm old enough to remember Ireland in the 1980s and immigrants were as rare as hens teeth. There was no money in Ireland and nobody wanted to come here

creeper1

Global warming is an absolute non issue because the much bigger issue of depopulation (population of Europe and much of Asia are below replacement levels). The next generation will pollute less because for the most part they will be much smaller.

Immigration is the serious issue. It tears apart a society. It causes devisions and stokes resentment.We have seen it in France and elsewhere.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846076#Comment_120846076

Unmitigated BS.

All of it.

saintsaltynuts

Immigration for me. The more people that come here puts more pressure on housing and a healthcare system that's already ticking over. Not really fair on our own people but the government don't care were an E.U. state now.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827179#Comment_120827179

Lots. Yes it's OK if you are gay you can marry but being Trans in this Country means no Trans healthcare. There is not a single Public or Private hospital in this Country that does FFS or a Treacheal Shave or Orieochtomy aka removal of balls or vaginaplasty for TransWomen or removal of overys and the Womb for Transmen so yes there is still a lot needed yet.

It's disgracefully. Most surgeons know or have learned about all these things and it's not like there is a special operation table needed it's the same one as used for every other major operation like operations on the heart etc. Yes maybe specialised dungeons are needed I understand it takes years of experience to get good at any operation so maybe only so many things a certain surgeon can do but even a surgeon that could do a Vaginaplasty could probably work on a heart operation too or ones to do do with the kidney or liver or intestines even.

It should be possible is all I am saying.

Everlong1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846619#Comment_120846619

A Transgender Equality study in 2017 estimated the number of trans people in Ireland as between 3,500 and 4000. I'm sure the lack of gender reassignment facilities is distressing for those affected but it's hardly one of the biggest issues in the country which was the OP's question.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120845145#Comment_120845145

It's fucking hilarious listening to these gobshites isn't it? Whinging about "immigrants" and simultaneously muttering that climate change isn't real. All the while being ignorant of the fact that as some countries get warmer to the point of being uninhabitable, their populations will try to move north to more milder climes.

osarusan

Housing, without any shadow of a doubt, in terms of the widescale nature of and immediacy of impact.