Tell your crooked Irish people story

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

Once someone gets above a certain level in Irish politics and/or business they are basically untouchable. If the truth does slip out somewhere they will be protected and in the incredibly rare situations when they do see the inside of a court room they will receive the softest sentences imaginable if convicted. A couple of years at the very most in some holiday camp like Loughan House or Shelton Abbey. This country is marinaded in corruption, it would give a lot of African and South American countries a run for their money.

The last sentence - bless.

Ericdravancrow wrote: »

Really...best for who?..our government says no to tax billions from Apple, but yes to water charges...

That's all you can offer in response to the statement that Ireland is one of the best places in the world to live? How about... no war, food being plentiful, clean and easily accessible water, sanitation, education being easily accessible - mandatory up to a certain stage, we can criticise the government all we want, a very supportive social welfare system, safety - you generally don't have to worry about gangs in your day to day life, a reasonable minimum wage, houses and flats instead of shanty towns...

There can be remarkable lack of perspective at times. Ireland isn't perfect of course but to doubt how good a place it is to live when we hear daily about the horror of e.g. Aleppo... is quite incredible.

The reason corruption works so well in Ireland is because of our culture of silence. The reason we had such clerical abuse was because people didn't want to talk about it and didn't want to challenge the status quo. The whole notion of the "fighing Irish" is bogus unless it refers an American College football team, and doesn't represent our true, quiescent nature.

Ericdravancrow wrote:

It appears we can't help ourselves, we will do over all and anyone to line our pockets.... rumours about Nama, OCI, Politicians and expenses, people claiming welfare, lying about insurance claims, finance Ministers without bank accounts, transport ministers with no licence's, tribunal's without charges, regularly elected dodgy public representatives, shell companies, offshore accounts, dodgy Garda in Donegal...confess all.

Is that you Mick Wallace?

I know the Dail summer recess can be a bit quiet, but sit tight. The politicians will be back very soon. Then you can whinge and moan to your heart's content.

More for the list - no famine, no diseases that wipe out reams of people, life expectancy of 80s.

Even Ireland at its bleakest was always a lot better to live in than many many parts of the world.
I don't object to people thinking Ireland could be improved in ways - I agree, it could. All I object to is the incredible lack of perspective people have when they claim it's such a terrible place to live in. In fairness, it's pretty poor taste. The quality of life here is extraordinary. So many new cars, so many restaurants and bars, shops always jammed at the weekend.

It seems like people want to indulge in a perverse romanticising and pretend they're really downtrodden living here, and also the tendency of many Irish people to put down Irish people (but not themselves) yet not to suggest ways of improving things that aggrieve them, making them no better than the faceless mass whom they complain about - but of course what they are oblivious to is that they are part of that mass.

Arsemageddon wrote: »

Ah yeah, sure us paddy's are such a bunch of fvckwits that it wasn't for the foreigners putting a bit of manners it would be like an episode of The Walking Dead here in the space of a week or two.

Not the paddies who know better though!