The accelerating fall in Sinn Féin support

Did you decide yourself to call her "Karen McDonald" but though it would be better to say the "kids" made it up so you wouldn't sound like a 12 year old?

Shes always come across as particularly dislikeable but it seems to be ramped up the last year or so.

I'd be willing to overlook that if her her party were a viable alternative but its apparent to a growing number of people that they're not.

It's a real damning indictment that there is such anger with the present government but the main opposition just aren't an option.

Their refusal to comment on the immigration situation in particular has been their downfall,its also the reason therell be a record number of independents in the next election.

The emperors cloths have fallen off alright. How an opposition party to the current shower could be falling in support is crazy. I suspect poster above is right though. They are terrified they might actually have to govern, so are scuttling their own party for the upcoming election.

Uninspiring leader of a single issue party whose stock in trade is mud slinging.

Rarely do I hear anything out of her that is not negative or a dig at someone else. Tiresome.

SF are in trouble , they forgot their base voters and chased the 20/30s middle class vote a lot of the twitter hero/progressive crowd.

the truth is that crowd fit really Greens/SD/Labour easily.

They didn't learn from when labour tried this 20 odd years ago and lost their base.

It takes time before the base lets go their allegiance so for a while SF had a loyal base and attracted new voters

But now the base SF voters have realise new SF is a barrell of sh1te and are looking elsewhere

Gerry Adams is to blame , he ruined a nationalist party by handing over the leadership to a flake like Mary Lou.

Ultimately, housing of this density is needed in these areas, as time goes on, the low rise around it will be knocked and turned into high rise, as the alternative, urban sprawl, is a disaster. The sooner we realise this and get them built, the faster we'll get accommodation back to affordable levels.

MLMD is just playing the populist/NIMBY vote here.

The planning system is rotten to allow these type of objections, the politicians, MLMD in this case, pushing it are rotten as well and completely and utterly hypocritical if they talk about solving housing. This example is proof positive that Mary-Lou, if in power, would make the housing crisis worse for people and lead to even higher accommodation costs for everyone.

and they may well go back to that soon.

they've really damaged their working class base - are they really saying they can compete with the greens or SD for the trendy progressive vote? I dunno if they can

Do you not know where Clonliffe Road is? It's not on the fringes that's for sure as if you really thought so .

One of the oldest terraced small red brick streets which backs on to Croker , and loads of apartments all around .

Apartments are not the problem. None if the rest if the development was until the developer got greedy .

It was an EIGHTEEN STOREY HIGH apartment block proposed in among the other blocks. That was the problem .

Still at it ?

I can do that too. ;)

It's a disgrace that a greedy developer would want to build an 18 STOREY high apartment block in a residential area surrounded by protected structures and two storey terraced houses !

If he had changed the planning app as advised by DCC planning to moderate the height of that one to a more reasonable level like the rest he would be building all of those apartments now .

Which I totally agree are badly needed , but not at ANY cost.

And it wasn't just 'an auld one in Foxrock' ( an ageist , sexist description which anybody in Young Fine Gael would be so proud of ) and a SF TD .

None of that matters if the planner is happy which they weren't . DCC turned that Tower down as they have similar in the city centre saying it was completely inappropriate . Couldn't even get through a fast track process .

Are you saying the judge who turned it down was wrong too ?

Judge agreed with the planner, the TD and the 'auld one from Foxrock ' ( such a nice description btw , typical of the thread )

But of course you know this and are using the thread to try to blame SF for this refusal .

Pretty clear that no matter who turns a planning decision down, SF will be getting the blame from FFG .

There are tds in every party blocking developments in their areas not just SF .

At least I can admit that ..because I am not shilling for any particular party .

That's right . A floating voter rapidly turned off by comments like those on this thread from voting FFG .

It is indeed a disgrace , that FFG have let us down so badly for housing that they are now so desperate they want the equivalent of the Ballymun Towers built in residential streets and try to pillory anyone that doesn't agree .

I`m not a great believer in coincidence, but the SF voting intentions in polls were holding up well until the controversy on immigrants and especially asylum seekers started making the headlines. Whether that had the effect on their percentage dropping so much I have really no idea, But if it has, for a party of the left, then it make a bit of a sham of all parties and the media treating it as just being an issue for a rag tag rabble on the far right.