blanch152 wrote: » It really is something when the Sinn Fein critics have been reduced to complaining about how far a sign language interpreter is from Dr. Holohan.
Bishop of hope wrote: » Interesting to note the success of SF's social media campaign in the canvas for the general election. I did point it out a few times during the campaign and it was laughed off by FG and FF supporters on here as being ineffectual and that the people who were spouting it, sharing it and commenting on it wouldn't vote anyway. It continues as we speak and despite SFs lack of public media time, their message is, still being widely spread quietly on social media, while anti government posts also abound and are, shared. SF are the masters of social media by a mile lads. Leo, Simon and Eoghain are their most reviled targets.https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/sinn-f%C3%A9in-massively-dominant-on-facebook-during-general-election-1.4261458?mode=amp
FrancieBrady wrote: » You can flog away at that horse that you know full well is dead as a doornail. Did Leo lie about the situation with the minimum wage and the power to change it in NI and any devolved institution of the UK? Yes he did.
blanch152 wrote: » They are very vocal about the Irish Language Act, on which they achieved nothing, but they have nothing to say about the things that affect ordinary people. No wonder their vote is declining in the North.
FrancieBrady wrote: » This is yet another lie. 'SF must compromise'...when they do compromise, they are losers. Varadkarian thinking right there.
blanch152 wrote: » They shut down Stormont for years and achieved precisely what they were offered in the first place, a single Language Act covering both Irish and Ulster Scots. In the meantime nurses didn't get payrises, West Belfast got even more impoverished, the health service was run down, and Sinn Fein politicians picked up their cheques.
FrancieBrady wrote: » You had better talk to Simon Coveney who called it a 'win for those passionate about the Irish Language'. A 'win' for the party that can never win in blanch's head. By the way, this was a compromise that SF was willing to make with the DUP over a year earlier that the DUP bolted from.
blanch152 wrote: » Eh, no it wasn't. There were significant concessions made to the DUP over the previous document, including in respect of the language issue. And doesn't it say something that the only "achievement" of Sinn Fein is some half-baked compromise on the Irish language.
FrancieBrady wrote: » Your boogeymen have reached a preposterous size blanch. If what you are saying is correct, then political parties around the world would be flocking to study SF to see how they managed to sustain the majority nationalist vote in NI for over 20 years and to achieve the highest vote in the most recent Irish election by doing 'nothing'. Perhaps you could present a paper.
blanch152 wrote: » According to you Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have managed it for far longer down here. The reasons for Sinn Fein's success up North comes down to its ability to promote sectarianism as the main reason for choosing who to vote for.
FrancieBrady wrote: » So you are calling the vast majority of nationalists 'sectarian' even those who previously voted for the SDLP? Pretty monstrous claim there blanch. As I said, you really need to stop feeding the boogeymen. *And yet another lie: I have never claimed that FG and FF have achieved nothing here.
blanch152 wrote: » No, I am not calling the vast majority of nationalists "sectarian". I am suggesting that the two main sectarian parties in the North prey on peoples' fear of the "other" to secure support. Thankfully, both parties appear to be at the start of a long decline.
Poor_old_gill wrote: » Why are they voting for SF so? What have they delivered for the voters in the north? This is the part where you say “the Irish language act” and kinda prove blanch’s point. To be honest it’s preposterous to suggest that voting in the north isn’t done along the grounds of religion & national ideology
FrancieBrady wrote: » And SF command a majority again and again along those lines. The people choose them over the SDLP. I am not getting into achievement thing again. If you cannot see the many improvements in NI since the 60's then you have an eyesight problems., Not all of them SF's but they have played their part. And that is before we mention that currently they are the most popular political party in the south.
Poor_old_gill wrote: » You haven't listed achievements and NI is a state that lives on handouts from Westminster with a GDP per capita that is much lower than the south. SF have been in power in the North & that place is an economic backwater that the UK want out of and we probably cant afford to take on - so our only evidence of them in power has resulted in failure, pettiness & pointless grandstanding.
FrancieBrady wrote: » Not sure how many times I have to say it - my opinion is that NI is a failed state because of partition. The very existence of the GFA is proof of that. Sure you blame one party only for that, when it is basically a 5 party coalition with limited powers...because of partition.
FrancieBrady wrote: » And SF command a majority again and again along those lines. The people choose them over the SDLP.I am not getting into achievement thing again. If you cannot see the many improvements in NI since the 60's then you have an eyesight problems., Not all of them SF's but they have played their part. And that is before we mention that currently they are the most popular political party in the south.
blanch152 wrote: » And we know why you are not getting into the achievement thing again. As late as 1960, per capita income in the North was well ahead of the South, now it is far behind. That is the legacy of Sinn Fein's achievements.
Mortelaro wrote: » What the author of that doesn't tell you though is that much of the interactions are all from the same people If you put up a 1000 posts and 8 of the same people 'love' each one of them, that's 8000 interactions Ergo it's far from the full story Its the same here, there are 5 or 600 average on line at times in the current affairs forum but most of them are in the coronovirus sub forum not in the current affairs forum The main forum captures the entire number Ditto in the SF centric threads here, if I come in here 10 times a day and don't post, it's counted as 10 separate views and I'm only one person Very very few people bother opening them because they're all the same, see one see all of those As for twitter, only 29% of the population had an account last year and a lot of them are dormant Facebook is losing a lot of numbers especially young people, a third of them left last year
FrancieBrady wrote: » You keep agreeing with me blanch. The statelet failed.
blanch152 wrote: » That is not what I have said. We have a very different perspective.
aido79 wrote: » Not only is she defending the IRA campaign she's actually saying she probably would have joined the IRA if she have been born in the northhttps://amp.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mary-lou-mcdonald-comments-hammer-home-fine-gael-concerns-over-talks-1001631.html Is that really the kind of person who people want as Taoiseach?
jm08 wrote: » People didn't mind Michael Collins who had plenty of bloods on his hands or Sean Lemass either. Its a bit rich actually Neale Richmond taking the high moral ground on this one bearing in mind the fascist origins of his party who executed about 80 republican prisoners (their former comrades) including Erskine Childers for the possession of a pistol.https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/erskine-childers-executed-over-possession-of-a-pistol-1.4036480 Oh, and don't forget Sean MacBride (son of Maud Gonne) who was Chief of Staff of the IRA in the 30s, later won the Nobel Peace Prize.
ThunbergsAreGo wrote: » Has Neale Redmond come out and said he approved of or condoned that? Has he said he would have joined in (if he wasnt busy joining another political party, and it wasnt a Tuesday and....)