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Leo Varadkar resigns as Taoiseach

aidanodr

Not sure what this is about:

A major announcement is now expected to be coming from the Government this morning.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will make the decision known at 12 noon.

The development is believed to centre on the Fine Gael side of the Coalition.

Frantic meetings have been taking place in Government Buildings.

So is the gov about to fall with FG pulling out of coalition????

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/political-earthquake-major-announcement-expected-from-government-at-noon/a2011295372.html

**Threadbans**

Dublincc2

Denny61

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Goldengirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921300#Comment_121921300

And the new PLC direct access to 3rd level courses.

And the cuts to college registration fees.

He has been a successful Minister for FE.

THE most successful in fact :)

But it is more fun to concentrate on his wimpiness /s

Peter Flynt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923618#Comment_121923618

The cuts to college registration fees that Fine Gael introduced?

Wow....what an achievement.

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923460#Comment_121923460

Totally - you just knew today listening to some of the worms , that they were cowardly saying no right now but at the same time making it very clear that they would be open to it in the future - it was so fcking obvious - knowing things will get worse before getting better and waiting on sunnier days to stick their hand up, or more likely organise a heave against Harris.

As they say with friends like these….

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923460#Comment_121923460

He may feel its the only way he would get within an asses roar of it

And I suppose when your on a roll you can be reluctant to step back

I feel its his liz truss moment but maybe ill be pleasantly surprised

paddyisreal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923618#Comment_121923618

It's kind of funny that a guy with no qualifications at all was appointed to the FE position. I reckon it was a joke on Leo's part like his mean girls thing. Homer Simpson could run that department with the amount of money splashing around the last few years FFS. No one wanted the bloody job and he is like John o shea at the moment there by default.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921300#Comment_121921300

Eh.. do you refer to the internship/apprenticeship programme that has been the subject of considerable angst to some of it's participants as per Joe Duffy's callers? Lads who are on apprenticeship programmes in the construction trades and left high & dry without being able to finish their programmes. Something to do with shortage of tutors and so on.

It's one thing coming up with 'bright ideas' (and apprenticeships are not exactly new) - another thing to implement them. So what has Harris actually achieved/ delivered??

A taoiseach needs to be able to get things implemented, not just develop fancy reports & TikTok videos.

Goldengirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923655#Comment_121923655

He's still the most successful Minister for FE!

And yes I agree with your take above. And this is why he is being supported in this run for Taoiseach.

Noone else wants it atm and he will be the loser after the next GE, not one of the others.

It is cruel but its politics.

Goldengirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923622#Comment_121923622

Lot of people grateful for any help nowadays believe me, so don't knock it.

a2deden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923468#Comment_121923468

This is it exactly, there is a reason people want to live in first world countries like Ireland and Australia, the housing crisis exists in pretty much every one of the first world countries

Raoul Duke III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923514#Comment_121923514

Totally. Personally I think a personality disorder has to be a prerequisite for the job. Why any sane person would subject themselves to it is beyond me.

The professional oppositionists such as Boyd Barrett, Murphy, Daly etc don't count as they have zero intention of ever going into government.

Genghis

FF should be thinking now of seeking an election instead of backing Harris.

It would be very easy but very empowering for them to say "it's what people want, no one wants an uncontested, shoe-in, lame duck / short term Taoiseach". Or simply "we feel the electorate should decide the next Taoiseach".

FG are very weak right now with no leadership and a dozen or more TDs leaving. With the recent referendum result it's unlikely the current government will be re elected, so FF don't need to stay loyal to it.

The next government will be SF/FF or SF/FF led and FF would be better off looking decisive now than waiting for the current government to fizzle out.

I can't see MM doing any of this, so unless he is replaced faster than LV was, this probably won't happen.

Peter Flynt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923718#Comment_121923718

The problem with this is that Micheal Martin joined FG in 2016 and brought the rest of FF in with him. The time has come for Martin to be dumped and I would not be surprised to see it happen before the next election. Arguably Martin can pre-empt this by pulling out of government soon and hoping to be a part of the next government.

MisterAnarchy

Honestly I'm staggered that a gombeen of a man such as Harris could become the leader of FG never mind the leader of the country.

Its like something from a parallel universe, the twilight zone.

Kenny-Varadkar-Harris, going from bad to worse, a laughing stock.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921954#Comment_121921954

This Government and the ones involving FG since 2011 (because the current one contains many of the same characters) have absolutely squandered and mismanaged the economy and country as a whole in that time. In the process they also managed to rehabilitate FF and make Michael Martin Taoiseach.

An entire generation have little to no hope of owning their own home - even with 2 full time Incomes. The rental market is in even worse shape. A GP visit is something you'll wait days or longer for. Parents are cutting back on their own meals so their kids won't do without, childcare costs as much as a mortgage. That's just to name a few.

Despite the billions washing through the country via the MNC sector, the divide between the haves and have nots has increased massively on top of all the issues above. When (not if) that cash cow dries up or the global economy that drives it has another meltdown, the crash this time will be an order of magnitude worse than the last one.

You're making the classic mistake of presuming that just because the alternatives aren't any better or worse that this is an endorsement of the current arrangement. It's well known for years by most people that we have a serious problem in regards political choice - especially in the centre right sphere.

We now have a selection of left (to varying degrees) leaning groups and parties and nonsensical screeching about the "far right" whenever anything even vaguely more economically or socially sensible is mentioned.

But that doesn't by any stretch validate the current Government. A Government that has undermined the electoral system through back room Confidence and Supply and Coalition deals, formally eliminating any pretence of difference between the Big 2 in the process. As for the Greens... Do I really need to spell out the problems with having a rabble of one-issue ideological fantasists at the controls? Catherine Martin, Roderic O'Gorman, Eamon Ryan? Even a cursory look at their performance will answer that one!

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923464#Comment_121923464

Could not agree more. The ignorance and laziness spouted by some people who slate politicians, and people who put themselves so publicly forward, is pathetic.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923513#Comment_121923513

He can just dig out whatever one he had in the early days!

a2deden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922796#Comment_121922796

I would take what your nephew says hes making shuttering with a pinch of salt, again my time in Aus was in the industry.

Nice money sure, money you could only dream about nah.

Australia is a great country, one i tell everyone to give a go to, amazing weather, ok people but the money made there is beyond exaggerated, if i was to move to Australia now i would have to take at least a 20% cut in my salary

MisterAnarchy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923542#Comment_121923542

Exactly, imagine if everyone had 7 or 8 advisors like Varadkar and Ryan.

You'd have very little to do.

These jackeens have no idea what a hard days work is, half of them have other businesses and jobs outside politics.

They cant be working that hard if they are able to do that.

hamburgham

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923750#Comment_121923750

I know, it’s shocking. Pity Lucinda Creighton left the party. It just shows that political success in Ireland has nothing to do with intellectual calibre.

Raoul Duke III

One thing I do note about the current discourse: people have some very unrealistic expectations about what an Irish government can actually achieve, especially when it comes to housing.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923479#Comment_121923479

Catherine Martin, Roderic O'Gorman and Helen McEntee (to name but 3) seem to have managed to get to that position with zero demonstration of ability or competence in their respective ministries.

ToweringPerformance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923750#Comment_121923750

A man who's never had a real job in his life either. It's like a comedy sketch.

Raoul Duke III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923750#Comment_121923750

Well, when you consider the FF lineage of Haughey-Ahern-Cowen, the FG names you mention look like titans in comparison!

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923460#Comment_121923460

You complain about scheming and in the same breath talk about Harris stepping up.

The choreography of today was no accident. Harris has been building a leadership project for years. His ambition was no secret but I still don't understand why they are choosing him.

I see no way, unless he has some sort of Damascene conversion and does a complete and rapid 180 on current policy which he has previously backed for it to have any impact on FGs position with the electorate. I also don't see the actual sell here either.

Maybe the FG parliamentary party know something or see some spark that we don't know about him. He will need to show it pretty quickly tbh.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923773#Comment_121923773

A Government that has undermined the electoral system through back room Confidence and Supply and Coalition deals

You may as well hold a giant neon sign proclaiming you know nothing about how our electoral system is supposed to work. How, pray tell, did these incredibly normal and globally ubiquitous parliamentary agreements undermine anything?

Also, wealth inequality in Ireland is decreasing not increasing. There are people out there who actually measure these things

https://www.centralbank.ie/statistics/statistical-publications/behind-the-data/the-evolution-of-irish-household-wealth#:~:text=The%20Gini%20coefficient%20fell%20from,since%202021%20(Chart%203).

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923833#Comment_121923833

Haughey and Ahern who despite their many personal failings brought this country out of the 50s era mindset and laid the groundwork for the FDI investment that underpins the entire economy while (in the case of the latter) helping to bring peace to the North.

Cowen who in fairness was left to carry the can when Bertie saw the writing on the wall but still better than Enda who pissed away a once in a generation mandate and support to actually change the way things were done for his and his party's turn at the trough while selling off as much as they could to private interests through NAMA until they actually managed to get one of the most apathetic electorates in Europe out on the streets with the Irish Water debacle.

I'll keep saying it. As bad as FF are, FG actually cause far more damage.

Raoul Duke III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923858#Comment_121923858

Yes, I must have forgotten how the IMF had to come in and administer the country under a FG Taoiseach. Silly me.

hamburgham

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923655#Comment_121923655

Absolutely, pretty much all he’s done is throw money around like confetti. Don’t think he managed to get any reform through in Health. Have to say, Donnelly seems to be getting some sort of grip on it. Has finally got them working weekends which is great. You can see Donnelly’s management consultancy experience coming through, apparently he’s all about metrics. Harris was all about sound bites and photo ops (as was Leo who achieved absolutely nothing in Health).

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923827#Comment_121923827

Have you any idea what they do in their day to day work, or is your opinion based solely on Daily Mail headlines?

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121918606#Comment_121918606

What jobs would no Irish parent accept for their children? Chimney boys?