Simon Harris, the TikTok Taoiseach

Beechwoodspark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121935520#Comment_121935520

I just cannot take him seriously.

Ranting and raving and shaking his fist - “take back the flag - take it back!!!”

Came across so badly.

This morning he did his maniacal motor mouth routine on RTÉ.

So many words, so much waffle.

Kermit.de.frog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936130#Comment_121936130

FG have been consistently around the 20% mark for some time. It doesn't look like they are going to be 'slaughtered' and as things stand will most likely lead the next govt with FF and another party.

No one wants to do business with SF for all sorts of reasons and it does not look like that's changing so they won't be able to form a government.

If SF were to have any chance they'd want to be up around the high thirties percent (latest poll has them on 25%) and even then it would still be unlikely.

Luxembourgo

Something that surprises me, and isn't talked about more is the lack of Irish applying for IT jobs at the moment (or maybe its just in my company).

Many masters especially are glorified pay for a degree at this stage, and are full of non Irish (nothing wrong with non Irish, but I think a third level institution should look to build up their countries skills as well).

As a former Minister of Higher Education, I hope he looks for ways we can get Irish born (and therefore more likely to stay long term) into fields which pay well, and reduce the need for colleges and universities to sell degrees to the highest bidder.

We had a view jobs up recently on decent money and had no Irish apply at all

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936144#Comment_121936144

Look I hear ya- my key concern is the issues that FG ignore will come back to bite them in the election.

I thought this would have been a great opportunity for him to address the elephant in the room.

I know SF is lower in the polls than they were at present, but still that could change. Pissed off voters tend to vote independent in these times so expect an awful lot more singletons in the house next time around

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121935701#Comment_121935701

Yet if you stood in a room in front of me now and I asked you the last few Justice Minister you would stand slack jawed looking at me(Im sure you can use google to make out you know now)

It was like the Taniste role, which didn't really have that much coverage till Leo went into the role, then it was similar if not more to the Taoiseach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936130#Comment_121936130

Yet another proclamation about the demise of FG, at the moment I would look at which party is going in the wrong direction

mariaalice

If he is to get anywhere, less waffle, less focuse group type nonsense, and less listening to his advisors.

It has to come from the heart and he has to articulate his own political vision.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121935512#Comment_121935512

Did you know what Ireland was like post the crash when FG took over?

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936266#Comment_121936266

We’re all aware of that and yes FG did some good at the time - but we’re over a decade on from that now - no point in harping back to the past- it’s what they’re doing now that counts- you appear to be closed to discussing the faults of FG - so be it but if you wish to stay in the past then just have a look at what happens when voters become disillusioned with their governments -the independents get elected en masse and extreme left and right parties gain also

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936173#Comment_121936173

The votes SF are losing are not going back to FG or FF. They are going to SD/Independent/Labour.

I think Simon Harris will appear over eager and come out with a few gaffes between now and election time. The Euro and Local elections will be a major test of his resolve. Other FG ministers will be hoping he fails.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936164#Comment_121936164

I presume a lot of those applicants are Indian IT professionals and they will want to stay here long-term if they can get the visas etc.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936316#Comment_121936316

Faults? the faults are fired up here daily. Childrens Hospital for one which was in the wrong location etc

"extreme left and right" supporters are never voting FG and never would have anyway so really are irrelevant

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936327#Comment_121936327

Yeah it’s not the case that Harris stepped forward for this role, it’s that everyone else stepped back 😀

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936316#Comment_121936316

what happens when voters become disillusioned with their governments -the independents get elected en masse and extreme left and right parties gain also

Liitle sign of any of this in the opinion polls. In the weekend's Ireland Thinks poll Independents/Others were down 3 at 14%, PBP were on 2% and the National Party were probably on 0.2% if it was a good day for them...

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936354#Comment_121936354

I doubt Leo decided on that day to resign and didn't tell anyone in the party or already have a plan with the senior members of the party

Like Madigan leaving was seemingly discussed and agreed over a month ago

Ash.J.Williams

Best of luck to our new leader, but I'm sure he knows as well as us he's not a real taoiseach, and will be a necessary sacrifice for the country to get back to normal

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936266#Comment_121936266

The Troika and lenders put the squeeze on us and obliged a realignment. To some extent whoever was in power was just the name on the head plate. Of course Labour took a lot of the blame and were the mudguards for shiny FG. What I recall mostly about the 'crash' was that the pay and jobs of civil & public servants were largely protected, even when their budgets to do stuff was slashed. Meanwhile many of us generating wealth for the state saw our turnover slashed and just propping up the boys.

Furze99

What I found gas over the weekend were FG figures fawning over Harris and how in touch he supposedly is with modern social media. They'd remind you of the aunt/ uncle/ grannies adrift from all this new tech and asking their nieces, nephews, grandchildren to tune in their TVs. Whereas in reality Simon's social media is/was full of vacuous nonsense that the modern youth just laugh at.

kazamo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936266#Comment_121936266

Daft question.

The Troika, the people of Ireland, and the passage of time sorted that out. Every time a hard decision was to be made, Enda and the boys trotted out “the troika are making us do this”. They had a party when the Troika left after three years, and the people of Ireland wondered why they were celebrating.

I do remember no one convicted for actually causing the crash, if we weren’t copying British legislation, the financial reporting irregularities would have been unpunished too.

I am a FG supporter, just think they missed a great opportunity for reform after the crash.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936423#Comment_121936423

Not really what happened is it now? but a nice swing to make sure you don't have to admit FG made some changes which put is in the position we are now.

No matter what you do, make sure you never give any credit to a political party you don't support? 😂

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936454#Comment_121936454

David Drumm off top of head

skimpydoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936248#Comment_121936248

The party going in the wrong direction has to be FG's partners FF as independents have now passed them out in the most recent opinion poll.

kazamo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936580#Comment_121936580

If only you did a bit of research before you post

On 6 June 2018, he was convicted of two charges of false accounting and conspiracy to defraud.[8] In passing sentence, the Judge emphasised the difficult and unprecedented market conditions that prevailed at the time. She concluded, "This Court is not sentencing Mr Drumm for causing the financial crisis. Nor is this court sentencing Mr Drumm for the recession which occurred. This offending did not cause Anglo Irish Bank to collapse."

scottser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936423#Comment_121936423

Nope. The Civil Service wage increments were suspended and recruitments were postponed for 6 years under Croke Park (I think). It lead to a significant brain drain as senior staff retired and not replaced, meaning sections could only have staff in acting roles. It's taken the guts of the last 10 years for those institutions to catch up to proper staffing levels. Pay restoration only kicked in about 2 years ago for most.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936454#Comment_121936454

"causing the crash" isn't a crime in and of itself. It isn't possible to convict someone who hasn't committed an actual crime.

A reasonable number of people went to prison for actual financial crimes relating to it; to the point that the UK press were pointing out how we were actually convicting people and they were at best taking away knighthoods.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936713#Comment_121936713

Pah.. I did contract work with various state bodies before the crash. Within a year or so all those dried up and we had at least a 50% drop in turnover. Meanwhile I'd be in touch with public servants in these bodies - none of them laid off, just sitting in offices on their slightly reduced pay & conditions but with feck all money in their budgets to actually commission or do any work. I'd swear some were just turning up day in & day out, drinking coffee, reading the paper, filing a report every now & then.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936526#Comment_121936526

The thing is, I would be of the famous middle ground - or the 'centre must hold' as FG would like to call it. And FG has betrayed us and our families, we had reasonable expectations that Ireland would be a place where our children could work & live and have families themselves. But your crowd have other ideas.

scottser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936808#Comment_121936808

So you weren't a civil or public servant then?

I was. And I can tell you that for most of the 2010s, staff from every section I knew, from a breadth of organisations, stated that they were over-worked, under-staffed and leader-stretched.

Maybe others who are/were public sector workers might chip in one way or the other.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936438#Comment_121936438

If the selling point is how in touch he is with social media then it's clear that the problems within FG are far wider and deeper than just a few in cabinet.

Modern social media is a big part of the reason for the problems in this country. Leo, Helen, Simon and others too busy trying to appease and pander to Twitter crusaders and trends than listening to the opinions and needs of their constituents and the electorate in the real world who are dealing with real issues.

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936248#Comment_121936248

I don't know what my recall has to do with the importance of the position but without too much thinking I could remember 5 of the last 6. Memory gets hasier back into the FF government's.

It's not just me though that thinks that justice is among the most senior government posts. The justice minister has access and is briefed on the most sensitive State security matters. It has always been a very important post

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936829#Comment_121936829

So given the moratorium on recruitment - why were PS allowed to retire on well paid pension schemes and walk off into the sunset. Leaving others picking up the tab in time. My point is and it was well understood then that the PS did not suffer with major drops in income unlike certain sectors of the private sector. The latter who generate the wealth & taxes needed to support the former. Anyway, this is drifting from thread now.

kazamo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936800#Comment_121936800

We convicted people for mis representing financial statements regarding loans held by the chairman of Anglo. That prosecution didn’t need the financial crash to happen and the Financial Regulator had uncovered these loans in January 2008.

That is a crime independent of the situation whereby all the Irish financial institutions needing a bailout from the Irish people to stay afloat.

BOI, AIB, EBS, IL&P and Irish Nationwide……it just happened and we investigated but couldn’t convict anyone. It really was a victimless crime if you ignore the 64billion put in to prop them up.

And what lesson was learn’t ?

The banks know that if history repeats itself, they will be bailed out again, with slim if any possibility of prosecution.

And house prices are back to where they were when crash happened. FG have changed nothing to prevent a repeat.

And yet the state will have no issue prosecuting for not having a TV licence. We really are selective as to what is important.

White collar crime really does pay, has anyone ever been convicted of something like reckless trading ?