Simon Harris, the TikTok Taoiseach

kazamo

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

Retiring by choice is a lot easier to deal with than losing your job because the business is shutting down.

Maybe there should have been a Job Guarantee Scheme in the private sector similar to the PS one. Tax payer would pay for both……equality and all that 🤔

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121935201#Comment_121935201

Helen is a strong td

Ash.J.Williams

Labour were on TV the other saying all the wrong things and not looking like a contender at all

scottser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936857#Comment_121936857

People retire when they reach 65 - you don't need permission ffs. As I stated earlier, not only do public sector pay their pension contribution, but they also pay a premium on top for the privilege. Wages didn't drop but they stayed static and nobody got promoted. You can think that all public sector workers were sitting around scratching their holes but that's a lazy stereotype, and not even rooted in any sort of fact.

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936975#Comment_121936975

Bacik is the biggest chancer of them all.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936970#Comment_121936970

By what measure?

Under her tenure Garda relations and satisfaction with their Commissioner and the job itself have worsened significantly leading to a significant rise in retirements that recruitment can't keep pace with, not to mention the increasing rise in (serious) crime as a result.

Dublin city centre is an antisocial hell-hole (even before and since the recent riots) as frequent videos on social media will show. Of course it wasn't like that on the day she and Pascal had their little walk around escorted by Gardai but most people don't get that sort of escort.

She's encouraged the immigration free-for-all through lax enforcement of the rules that there are, coupled with giving away citizenship like cereal box prizes to any who've simply hung around long enough.

She was comprehensively taken apart in the debate she had with McDowell ahead of the refendum on Virgin TV. She couldn't even manage a coherent argument - her notion of saying that kids would wake up disenfranchised that Saturday morning was ridiculous hyperbolic nonsense.

... just to name some recent ones!

Oh and of course there's her crusade to curtail and criminalise debate and free speech under her "Hate Speech" bill because some might get hurt feelz from opinions online that they don't like!

What she is is someone who was elected solely on a sympathy vote but has done nothing before or since to justify her elevation to one of the most important posts in Government.

What she is is too attentive to social media crusades and noise (like many others in "New FG").

What she is is dangerously incompetent and out of her depth. One of the worst politicians, let alone Ministers we've had in a long time. The idea that she may yet someday end up as Taoiseach is genuinely a scary prospect.

Oh and it has f-all to do with her being a woman (before that nonsense argument is thown in!) although given how much noise FG like to make about how "progressive" they and their candidates are, it certainly won't have hurt her in getting to where she is now.

So, strong how exactly?

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937090#Comment_121937090

And let's not forget that Harris helped her with all these when she was on maternity leave.

But they are strong on law and order?

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937141#Comment_121937141

I was busy most of the weekend so only got to watch some of his speech earlier - in particularly the piece about our flag.

To say it was embarassing is an understatement. The dramatics, the raised voice.... you'd think he was trying for Bill Paxton in Independence Day.

This is the guy who'll be leading the country and representing us abroad for however long it turns out to be. Our European "friends" must already be laughing!

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937090#Comment_121937090

Dublin city centre is an antisocial hell-hole

Do you really believe this is the case? The entire city centre, or specific parts of it? (it seems very hyperbolic).

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936970#Comment_121936970

Helen is an awful politician. However, next to the likes of Neale Richmond & Jennifer Carroll McNeill, who both seem to be allies of Harris and angling for promotions, she is positively Churchillian.

Tenzor07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936970#Comment_121936970

"Helen" as you're on a first level basis with the Minister of Justice I would guess you're her constituent or a FG party member?

She may be a good local T.D but as a Minister I think her days are numbered due to lack of any notable achievements...

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936664#Comment_121936664

You can't put one person in jail for causing the crisis. It was a Worldwide event, not just Ireland as well. Things happened outside of Ireland which the shock waves caused the issues in Ireland.

In reality Anglo was part of the issue, but so was all the other banks etc. So to put someone in jail and say it was his fault would have been totally wrong

If you want people to get put into jail for causing the crash then you would cover all the people who bought houses and could never afford them, all sorts of carry on was going on in the banks but also with the regular person who wanted to "get a foot on the property ladder"

A person working in a bank selling mortgages? are you going to put them into jail as well?

The list goes on and on and on. So in terms of doing "a bit of research before you post" 😂 maybe have a look at the Worldwide crash first and then how it came to Ireland.

In terms of the likes of BOI/AIB etc, they got bailed out but BOI has repaid 6.7bn for the 4.7Bn they got bailed out for. You can research the others who are still around yourself

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937581#Comment_121937581

And of course you would have had to handle the issues of depositors money and the thousands of pensioners who would

have no access to funds when the ATMs closed down

CC I’m afraid when it comes to blame these lads are one trick ponies, blame the Gubbermint for everything.

Luxembourgo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936335#Comment_121936335

Absolutely, but no reason why we couldn't attempt to train Irish to do the same job

hotmail.com

Bizarre that we have to wait 2 weeks with a lame duck Taoiseach because of an Easter break.

How Irish is this?

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937581#Comment_121937581

Ireland's bubble was inflating on it's own accord, remember the nonsense about being the richest country on the world and Ireland being different? The international factors were just the straw that broke the camels back. It's not about jailing people for what happened, but it's worrying that there is stilla hard core percentage that will vote for FF no matter what.

Get Real

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938097#Comment_121938097

Not particularly "Irish" at all. These things happen in politics occasionally.

For example, it's going on in the Netherlands right this minute and has been since July last year.

Mark Rutte resigned as PM in July 2023 but agreed to stay on in a caretaker capacity until November 2023.

In November 2023 the elections happened, and guess what, Mark Rutte is still PM now as they haven't formed a government yet. So he's PM from a previous election, still PM following a new one, even though he doesn't want to be.

An example of a fella who didn't even run in the November 2023 election who is still Prime Minister of a country, and has been since his resignation announcement 8 months ago.

This thing of "only in Ireland" is quite cringey. It's not as if Leo being Taoiseach for a mere two weeks in comparison makes us somehow unique or bizarre.

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938160#Comment_121938160

The successor has been chosen. We know who the successor is. But they're waiting 2 weeks because of an Easter break.

talla10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938203#Comment_121938203

Yes but if they called an emergency Dail sitting over Easter i'd imagine the opposition would call foul and allege they are organising such a sitting to try and ensure opposition parties weren't in attendance for the debate and vote.

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938274#Comment_121938274

All elected TDs are expected to attend the Dail no matter what day it is.

I really wouldn't expect the Opposition to claim they can't attend because they're all on holiday. I doubt that will go down well the public.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938097#Comment_121938097

"How Irish is this?"

Well all government's have holidays. So maybe you can explain why you think it is only Ireland?

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938286#Comment_121938286

If you had paid for a holiday at significant cost then of course you are not going to attend and why should you. The holidays are set many many months in advance.

Nothing about this requires an emergency sitting like covid etc.

The public in the majority won't give a sh*t

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938105#Comment_121938105

"on it's own accord"

then

"straw that broke the camels back"

So you answered the question yourself, external factors did affect Ireland.

It's more worrying that even today people seem to have little idea of what actually happened, or that any of the other parties at the time was promoting an alternative to the Irish government at the time. Most wanted to spend more, not less.

Even when we look at the main opposition now, it's a magic money tree they want to reel out and the public, who you would think would be more cautious, are lapping it up. "Free houses for all"

talla10

Of course they are and all well paid to attend. But look at a typical Dail attendance and investigate the average attendance over the course of a Dail term some TD's are a disgrace with how little days they attend. In any case I'd certainly expect the opposition to claim that the Government was trying to rush through a Taoiseach if they did announce such a sitting.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937907#Comment_121937907

Some people like the snippets they hear online and never think of the bigger repercussions. "Let do a Greece" was the recommendations of some parties. Headless chicken stuff

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938306#Comment_121938306

Just my observation. But it's nice to see you agree with the enormous holidays TDs get.

So much so, you don't think it's possible for them to return to the Dail for 2 or 3 hours tomorrow to replace the lame duck Taoiseach.

JP Liz V1

If Harris had any balls and wanted change, he'd call at GE now

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938317#Comment_121938317

The Lehmans stuff focused a lot of attention on financial services, property etc. But international factors didn't force people to build estates in the ball end of nowhere, give Anglo prominence (which you mentioned), Irish to invest in Bulgaria, Cape Verde etc.

Genghis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938358#Comment_121938358

I would say if Martin had any balls he would force a GE now (by not electing Harris as Taoiseach).

FF are in a better position right now than FG (ref: retirement of sitting TDs), SF are slumping in the polls and have been ineffective in opposition, striking now would be FFs best opportunity to win seats - and to show leadership / differentiate themselves in some way from FG.

Beside the potential gain, Martin is also at the end of his career, he has far less to lose from a ballsy move like this than Harris has.

All that said, I personally don't think there will an election until the Autumn.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121938421#Comment_121938421

That would be a wise move by MM