nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Election 2020

Cass

So i've had a few people ask me about a dedicated thread for the upcoming election, so here you have it.

Here you will be able to discuss political parties, candidates, and issues relating to shooting sports and the shooting community.

You can give details or ask questions and solicit opinions on the above, but like with the rest of the forum there will be one or two guidelines. Such as no name calling, slanderous or defamatory posts about candidates. Get your point across by all means, but do so in a way that won't have your posts removed.

A few tips when posting (tips, not requirements).

If giving details on a party or candidate try to name them, their previous stance, their current stance and what they promise. Have they made similar promises or reversed their position on certain or all aspects of fieldsports/shooting.

Also the district they represent and whether they are incumbent or a new candidate.

In short as much info as you can and please make sure it is verifiable. Not "i heard from Tom, who heard from Dick who went to school with Harry, who is the brother of the candidate".

So haveatit.

Find more posts tagged with

competition

license

range

target

election

shooting

rifle

shotgun

duck

pistol

politician

political

deer

pheasant

candidate

2020

Quick Links

Comments

Cass

You mark number 1 beside your first choice, 2 beside your second and keep going until all candidates are marked with a number. It says so right there at the top of your ballot paper.

Its not giving votes to the opposition. You rank them in order of how much you want each candidate to win. So if there is someone you really don't want to win you give them your last vote. Its why i start from the "bottom".

Based on the number of first, second, third, fourth choices each candidate get will determine who fills the number of seats and in what order they are elected.

Plus it only takes another 30 seconds to fill out the entire ballot so why not just do it?

I feel i have dragged this thread off of its original purpose, granted this is a relevant and important aspect, but if it helps get back on track i think we should set aside the method of voting and just make sure we vote.

tudderone

Cass wrote: »

Don't worry. The billions we'll pay in redundant carbon taxes will allow the Government to stand at the cliffs and throw wads of cash at the coming storm(s). Cos you know, taxes always solve problems. :rolleyes:

How many taxes has manchild verruca introduced now, everytime he opened his yap he was announcing another carbon tax. He got all emotional after listening to Grotty Underpants speech at the UN and announced a few there.

BattleCorp

useurowname wrote: »

Well I’m genuinely concerned about climate Change and I don’t believe FFG will do enough so it’s my way of expressing my grave concern.

You do realise that whatever you do will have absolutely feckall effect on climate change on a global scale and all that you will achieve by voting for them gobsh1tes is to lighten your pockets and reduce everyones ability to go shooting.

useurowname

I’m still voting for them
Every other issue it doesn’t seem to make one iota of difference whether it’s Tweedle Dum or Tweedle Dee running the place. The worst I heard so far wasStephen Donnelly, what a neck! I only wish the election was today so i don’t have to hear anymore about it tomorrow.
I’m more interested in preserving wildlife than hunting it now. It’s not that long ago there were tens of thousands of wintering fowl on inland loughs now you’d be lucky if you drove up any of them and counted a hundred or so mallard. That upsets me as it should any hunter. I’m like a rugby fan finding out there’s no more six nations.

BryanL

useurowname wrote: »

I’m more interested in preserving wildlife than hunting it now. It’s not that long ago there were tens of thousands of wintering fowl on inland loughs now you’d be lucky if you drove up any of them and counted a hundred or so mallard. That upsets me as it should any hunter. I’m like a rugby fan finding out there’s no more six nations.

I won't wait for the Greens to do it.

Controling foxes would do more than they ever will.

garv123

useurowname wrote: »

Well I’m genuinely concerned about climate Change and I don’t believe FFG will do enough so it’s my way of expressing my grave concern.
I’m sick of broken promises on everything else as I don’t believe any of the main parties on anything.

As for field sports, they are dying a death anyway there simply isn’t wild game enough to make a season, I can’t justify taking Woodcock or Snipe anymore, I haven't seen Widgeon in years and Pochard forget about them. So that leaves pigeons and reared Pheasants that are nowadays little more than clay pigeons with feathers, that’s not hunting in my book.

So that’s that Napoleon.

As concerned as you are about climate change, Ireland could go back to the stone age with no electricity, no fossil fuels, fill the country with millions of trees, plug cows asses to stop them farting, and it wouldn't make the slightest difference..

Tiny dot in a very big ocean.

Sparks

I would happily vote for a green candidate. The worry over climate change is a real thing, and it's justified and we do need to change some things we currently do. Which will absolutely suck but it's necessary. And yes, I think we need to raise taxes more, and I don't have a problem with that because they need to be raised more at the higher income levels and I'm completely fine with paying my share, which I don't think is quite what's going on at the moment. I'm not in the earning-150k-a-year-and-up demographic, but I'm pretty sure I'm paying more tax than some of them right now as I can't afford enough accountants to avoid tax like they can. All this "we'll cut taxation" nonsense that the FF/FG eejits are parading right now is absolutely stupid. There are large bills coming our way - we're facing into brexit actually happening, the UK threw its last lifeline away, and we're about to get a kick in the shorts economically as a result, and that's *before* any fun things start popping up from the climate change driven changes, or tackling the problem of finding homes for our ten thousand homeless people or closing down the direct provision concentration camps we're running or any of the other large rocks we've got poised above our heads. You don't cut taxes when you know that kind of stuff is headed your way, you start building funds and infrastructure now because you will need them when the bills arrive and you won't be able to do that then.

It's just that I wouldn't vote for anyone from the Irish Green Party because I don't believe they're competent or well grounded or informed and this stuff is too important to be left to any one party and certainly not to any party that thinks we should be planting nice Irish trees like Sequoia and American Black Walnut (I mean, forgetting the bit where they're not Irish, walnut trees release a natural herbicide so planting one - or even using shavings in mulch - just kills any plant nearby). I mean, how the hell do you manage as a Green party to come up with a racist policy about trees for feck's sakes?

Grizzly 45

It's just that I wouldn't vote for anyone from the Irish Green Party because I don't believe they're competent or well grounded or informed and this stuff is too important to be left to any one party and certainly not to any party that thinks we should be planting nice Irish trees like Sequoia and American Black Walnut (I mean, forgetting the bit where they're not Irish, walnut trees release a natural herbicide so planting one - or even using shavings in mulch - just kills any plant nearby). I mean, how the hell do you manage as a Green party to come up with a racist policy about trees for feck's sakes?

]

Be an actual good laugh if they did encourage us to plant Sequoia here.I've planted about five of them here and they all died within 10 years.Despite our climate being simmilar to Nth Cal and Oregon,Its not the same soil type and we dont get that costal sea mist that those two states get.Although we must have had different conditions over 100 years ago as there are some that have survived and thrived.

The reason you your three points dont resonate with them is simple.They are a Global religious cult full of gulliable zealots being led by some rather sinister belifs and doctrines from both Hitlers Germany and Marxist ideals who belive in myths that have been around since Victor Malthaus was talking out of his 3 cornerd hat in the 18th century.You cant argue with people who put "muh belifs" in dieities be it a big man in the sky with a beard on a throne,and his cloven hooved, bat winged,horned pal in the centre of the earth with his toasting fork,or that the planet is some sort of living organism.An organism that has survived MUCH worse than us with our barely 200 years of industrial revoloution have the audacity to belive we have changed irrevocably.
We just got rid ,more or less,of one bunch of religious nutjobs here.Now we are setting ourselves up to blindy follow another bunch of poli religious fanatics with their new religion of green...No thanks!!

Grizzly 45

tudderone wrote: »

How many taxes has manchild verruca introduced now, everytime he opened his yap he was announcing another carbon tax. He got all emotion after listening to Grotty Underpants speech at the UN and announced a few there.

Not to mind his Causescuesque plans to get us all into a technological Cul de sac that even its inventor Thomas Edison,[who was a better busisnessman than inventor] saw as a total going nowhere,literally, project,the electric car? The national grid cant even handle the loads imposed on it,soley on domestic produced power.So where is all this extra power going to come from.Hardly from giant bird mincers and putting every roof in Ireland under solar power?

tudderone

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Not to mind his Causescuesque plans to get us all into a technological Cul de sac that even its inventor Thomas Edison,[who was a better busisnessman than inventor] saw as a total going nowhere,literally, project,the electric car? The national grid cant even handle the loads imposed on it,soley on domestic produced power.So where is all this extra power going to come from.Hardly from giant bird mincers and putting every roof in Ireland under solar power?

Electric cars maybe useful for people who do short hops, mummys doing the school runs, a few miles each way and the odd run to the shops. But have you seen the price of the things :eek: ?

When a country as technically proficient as Germany made a town-halls of the whole green thing, closing the coal fired power plants to rely on wind and wave for power generation, which failed leading to a vast increase in the price of electricity, leading in turn to the coal fired plants being turned back on. The Germans are now beholden to the Russians who supply them with gas, Putin (Stalin mk2) has them by the short ones.

It doesn't fill me with confidence in the Irish green party, who are it seems a bunch of primary school teachers with good intentions.

Anyway its on the front of all todays papers that FF are in front of FG, and SF are nearly level with FG ! So its only taken the Irish about a decade to forget the disaster of the celtic tiger dropping dead mid-charge, leaving Ireland one of the most in-debted countries in the world.

Cass

tudderone wrote: »

So its only taken the Irish about a decade to forget the disaster of the celtic tiger dropping dead mid-charge, leaving Ireland one of the most in-debted countries in the world.

I'd imagine its more a case of:

People not even realising FF done this in the first place
Backlash at FG, the same as was done to FF back in 2011
People still not sure on SF as a "real" political party

IOW people are still voting based on emotion and an "in the now" mindset, instead of researching policies, party history, previous work by each party, and then making an informed decision.

Either way i can see a FF majority coalition Government happening which will be propped up by Labour, Greens and possibly a few independents.

That or FF with FG acting as confidence and supply for them. Basically a role reversal.

extremetaz

tudderone wrote: »

Electric cars maybe useful for people who do short hops, mummys doing the school runs, a few miles each way and the odd run to the shops. But have you seen the price of the things :eek: ?

Yis can keep yer politics but as for this - Is that all they can do?
Jaysus.:eek:

It's a wonder I've managed 290000km in one since 2012 and had it doing 1000km/week for the first 4 years.

Granted they're pricey - but even including maintenance and energy costs (including a battery swap) I'd have spent the same money just putting petrol in my old yoke by now; and it's still running like a swiss watch.

You couldn't pay me to own anything else at this point - and I'd have been considered a petrolhead in the past.

tudderone

extremetaz wrote: »

Yis can keep yer politics but as for this - Is that all they can do?
Jaysus.:eek:

It's a wonder I've managed 290000km in one since 2012 and had it doing 1000km/week for the first 4 years.

Granted they're pricey - but even including maintenance and energy costs (including a battery swap) I'd have spent the same money just putting petrol in my old yoke by now; and it's still running like a swiss watch.

You couldn't pay me to own anything else at this point - and I'd have been considered a petrolhead in the past.

No i know they are capable of more, but they are ideal for people commuting, dunno if i'd trust one to get me from Belfast to Cork and back. The charging time is what worries people.

tudderone

Cass wrote: »

I'd imagine its more a case of:
People not even realising FF done this in the first place

Backlash at FG, the same as was done to FF back in 2011

People still not sure on SF as a "real" political party

IOW people are still voting based on emotion and an "in the now" mindset, instead of researching policies, party history, previous work by each party, and then making an informed decision.

Either way i can see a FF majority coalition Government happening which will be propped up by Labour, Greens and possibly a few independents.

That or FF with FG acting as confidence and supply for them. Basically a role reversal.

They must have been living under a rock or have had a blow to the head and suffered amnesia to not know FF were in the driving seat when the economy was allowed to overheat and crash and burn in 08.

Either that or they are deluding themselves, a skill the Irish have in abundance.

solarwinds

Someone 18 today would only have been 8 or 9 when all that was going on, so they would not be aware of the history of it. But that is completely irrelevant as that demographic is voting for the Greens, because they have all the policies that are going to save the world. God help us all.

tudderone

solarwinds wrote: »

Someone 18 today would only have been 8 or 9 when all that was going on, so they would not be aware of the history of it. But that is completely irrelevant as that demographic is voting for the Greens, because they have all the policies that are going to save the world. God help us all.

This country is bat-poop crazy :rolleyes:.

Grizzly 45

And dirt cheap second hand .Why?Battery will lose 33% of its charge within 6 years,and the battery is worth more than the car.Hey! Whats not to like about this if you are a car salesman or car maker?

There has been multiple factors as to why Germany isnt going anywhere with the Green energy thing.One is actually The Green enviromental protection laws themselves and Mrs Merkel closing down our safe enough nuke reactors in the panic over Fukishima. Simple fact is ,you cant power a modern western nation with heavy industry on solar panels,wind turbines,and cow crap gas .

Cass

So where do we stand on parties and policy? So far the records are:

FF - Brought in the 2009 act which saw the destruction of centrefire pistol shooting all because of a fake attempt to combat criminals. The Minister even claimed some of what was legislated for was not intended but they done nothing to stop it, repeal it.

FG - While they have brought in one SI to clarify the 22 pistol mag limit issue they also brought in the RFD SI without consultation. They also enacted the recent EU directive in a bastardised and cut throat manner eliminating certain aspects which would have saw the same leniency our EU counterparts still enjoy. They have attacked fieldsports (both Ministers for Justice did) and have made clear their intent to further restrict fieldsports and shooting in general by having a possible semi auto centrefire ban, deer courses for newbies, and all unregulated.

SF - Have a history of anti fieldsport actions with their party members attending and supporting anti protests. Have made it clear they see no need for civilian firearm ownership.

Labour - No idea, if anyone has one. As they're always in a coalition its hard to pin point what is their policy and what is them getting mixed up in.

Greens - Need i explain this? Ban on all hunting, fieldsports, shooting and by default firearms.

yubabill

Time to look at the big picture.

This election is meaningless - things are going to happen in the next five years to test my prediction:

-Cute move by Leo calling the election now, Brexit is the elephant in the room. big changes for us coming soon. 1400 financial companies have so far applied for a licence to operate in the UK market post-Brexit, ROI has the most applications.

-Donald is taking the USA back into isolationism per 100 years ago; they have the demographics, natural resources, low regulations, defence capability and a self-sustaining economy to do so. Only 8% of their GDP is exports. Whatever the USA has above, the EU has the polar opposite.

Time to remember the people who helped us in the recent past IMHO. Those coming to mind include;

Marian Harkin - standing for Dail this time, rather than MEP

Martin Heydon Kildare, Sean O'Fearghail (CC, so auto re-elected), Sean Fleming Laois all came to Harbour House that time.

Wouldn't worry too much about who gets in, probably be another election soon enough.

Oh, please don't vote Green. Trust me on that.

yubabill

useurowname wrote: »

Well I’m genuinely concerned about climate Change and I don’t believe FFG will do enough so it’s my way of expressing my grave concern.
I’m sick of broken promises on everything else as I don’t believe any of the main parties on anything.

As for field sports, they are dying a death anyway there simply isn’t wild game enough to make a season, I can’t justify taking Woodcock or Snipe anymore, I haven't seen Widgeon in years and Pochard forget about them. So that leaves pigeons and reared Pheasants that are nowadays little more than clay pigeons with feathers, that’s not hunting in my book.

So that’s that Napoleon.

I'm highly sceptical of CO2 causing climate change and I've read a lot of scientific articles on the subject. I did not come to that conclusion lightly, but I have a degree in chemistry and understand the more mathematical side of it well.

I trust this guy, "Tony Heller" (pseudonym), he sticks to the facts mostly, although he uses a lot of anecdotal evidence, too

https://realclimatescience.com/climate-scientists-rewriting-the-past/

Grizzly 45

Sums it up nicely... So who do you want to vote for? Only thing I can say in favour of FG...When they were in OPPOSITION before the 2nd last Gen election,they were supportive of us in the great Irish gun grab of 2015 and did give us fair play in the Dail committee and inquiry.A fact that they should be reminded of if they show up on the doorstep. Especially, as we are waiting on promises from two elections and ministers ago. Remember the "review of the explosive act to make reloading easier?" and the Firearms Arbitration Advice Authority thingy?"When Frannie was pulling the Gaurds very hot chestnuts out of the fire for them.

To your very valid points Cass,a couple of those are more Govt dept/AGS policies and EU directives rather than actual ministerial whims or outright maligniency like Aherne did to hurt us. IE the semi auto rifle thing and the EU directive on the mag capacity. Yes,very dirtily done by the DOJ,but I doubt Mr Flanagan orderd this unlike Mr Aherne,and I belive both of them[Flanagan and Fitz] are ,like most politicans clueless on the matter of firearms,as are some in the DOJ too. They will go with what their advisors in the permanent govt of Ireland,and any country will tell them.Ministers and politicans come and go,the beuracrat regins forever.So I think our gripe with that should be with the Govt dept tail wagging the ministerial dog.

Ditto with the deer liscense controversy.Except in this case ,it was our own side trying to profit form legislation they were covertly pushing.

It still doesnt get any of them off the hook in my book,but in th huge picture of things,where do shooting concerns rate in any politicos book,and with that who do we vote for?

tudderone

Cass wrote: »

So where do we stand on parties and policy? So far the records are:

SF - Have a history of anti fieldsport actions with their party members attending and supporting anti protests. Have made it clear they see no need for civilian firearm ownership.

Greens - Need i explain this? Ban on all hunting, fieldsports, shooting and by default firearms.

SF are a far left cult, as in old fashioned 1970's marxist headbanger left. The bigger danger would be if they got in, who the hell would invest in Ireland ? They would turn the country into the european version of Venezuela. 90% tax and free everything for everybody..............until the money ran out, again.

Yes i find it very hard to swallow any criticism of civilian gun ownership from a party like SF, with their arms dealings with such lovely people as Gaddafi and Whitey Bulger :mad:.

tudderone

yubabill wrote: »

Time to look at the big picture.

This election is meaningless - things are going to happen in the next five years to test my prediction:

-Cute move by Leo calling the election now, Brexit is the elephant in the room. big changes for us coming soon. 1400 financial companies have so far applied for a licence to operate in the UK market post-Brexit, ROI has the most applications.

-Donald is taking the USA back into isolationism per 100 years ago; they have the demographics, natural resources, low regulations, defence capability and a self-sustaining economy to do so. Only 8% of their GDP is exports. Whatever the USA has above, the EU has the polar opposite.

Time to remember the people who helped us in the recent past IMHO. Those coming to mind include;

Marian Harkin - standing for Dail this time, rather than MEP

Martin Heydon Kildare, Sean O'Fearghail (CC, so auto re-elected), Sean Fleming Laois all came to Harbour House that time.

Wouldn't worry too much about who gets in, probably be another election soon enough.

Oh, please don't vote Green. Trust me on that.

I cannot blame Trump getting thick with the eu, his countries tax dollars are being spent defending Europe, but anything being sold in Europe is subject to heavy import duty. Most european countries do not spend the 2% of gdp they agreed to, on defence.

Grizzly 45

Of all the names I've seen sofar mentioned.Marian Harkin would be the most knowledgeable on any firearms issues.As she was an Irish MEP and was involved in the EU gun ban on our side. She and the man who cant be named here,did at least chair a meet for us agreived shooters in Athlone on this topic,and her voting record in the EU was pro gun,unlike her colleuge Mariead Mc Guinness who went Judas on us.

PS thanks Yuba for remembering her.

tudderone

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Of all the names I've seen sofar mentioned.Marian Harkin would be the most knowledgeable on any firearms issues.As she was an Irish MEP and was involved in the EU gun ban on our side. She and the man who cant be named here,did at least chair a meet for us agreived shooters in Athlone on this topic,and her voting record in the EU was pro gun,unlike her colleuge Mariead Mc Guinness who went Judas on us.

PS thanks Yuba for remembering her.

I seen Mc Guinness on BBC's Question time programme a year or two ago. A question was asked about free speech. Jordan Peterson answered the question that free speech was one of the corner stones of a free democracy, but Mc Guinness disagreed saying basically if someone says anything that hurt another persons feelings, that should be a crime. No wonder she is vice president of the european parliament :mad:.

Cass

yubabill wrote: »

-Cute move by Leo calling the election now, Brexit is the elephant in the room.

Not to mention it cut off another, proposed, motion of no confidence. MEaning FF would once again abstain and it would fail by single digits.

Another reason to not forgot FF's role in the last 5 years.

I'll be honest, there are bigger issues than shooting sports involved in this election, but for the sake of the forum i'm trying to keep the thread as much on track in relation to shooting as possible.

Grizzly 45

tudderone wrote: »

I No wonder she is vice president of the european parliament :mad:.

Along with Germany's most incompetent defence minister ever..."Flinten Ushi" Van der Leyen,now as EU president, off on a green save the mother Gaia Earth religious nutter bent in her policies....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Aw well, without about the exceptionally competant few out there.The global political Sisterhood,is getting ready to make a bigger tits up of life as we know it,than anything us knuckle dragging White male western sexist mysigonistic warlike male pigs have ever managed to do. Yeah I'm being sexist... Sue me!!:P:P:rolleyes:

garrettod

Hi,

At this stage, I'm wondering who is left to potentially vote for - the SDs seem to be the only ones who haven't done wrong on the shooting community, or pose a visible risk to us, if they do get into power.

With excess 200,000 licences supposed to be in issue, we should be a very strong and influential lobby group, not running scared of just about everyone that'll feature on the ballot paper.

tudderone

garrettod wrote: »

Hi,

At this stage, I'm wondering who is left to potentially vote for - the SDs seem to be the only ones who haven't done wrong on the shooting community, or pose a visible risk to us, if they do get into power.

With excess 200,000 licences supposed to be in issue, we should be a very strong and influential lobby group, not running scared of just about everyone that'll feature on the ballot paper.

But many people own more than one gun, i have 5 and a lot of people here would own a similar amount. I think there are 60,000 gun owners in total, many are farmers with a gun to shoot a rat in the barn or a fox in the hen house and they don't really care for guns apart from being a tool.

In the larger scheme of things, we are not very important at all, apart from being a convenient group to scapegoat if there is a shooting, or if you want to look tough on crime, thats what Ahern did with the centrefire pistols.

Brontosaurus

Soooo....

Any parties have any positive policies regarding firearms and some deregulation? Property rights? Self-defense rights?

Probably wishful thinking...

So few parties that I'd even jokingly say I'd vote for, just different variations of socialist-lite parties with varying stances on social policies. Irish Freedom party seem the only somewhat sane ones, National Party is too Catholic for my tastes.

Anyone want to start a gun-toting anarc-capitalist libertarian party :cool: