The decline of FG?

The problem with teachers is like nurses,they're not paid enough

Pay them more and then you have other unions up in arms striking

Pay them and you've the next lot striking

Whats needed is a law on essential workers pay backed by a referendum

I'd certainly vote yes

No party advocates that because they are afraid to

Btw teachers are just a percentile going to Australia ,theres a mix of everyone

Same as there is coming home

They're not going there for housing opportunities

Tbh ,since my mate said yesterday you were a fine gaeler and I've no wish to take part in an internal Fine gael experiment of some sort,I can't engage sorry 😆

Sorry I can't engage,other to say,you'd have to be dyslexic to read my comment as 'I am a Fine gaeler'

Now please do carry on with the experiment without me,you're doing very well to be fair 😆

Well, that's the thing. FG have changed their leader, energised their party, and as a result, have recovered in the opinion polls, increased their vote in the local and European elections vis-a-vis the last general election. At the very least, the decline has halted.

It is definitely Comical Ali to be suggesting that 2015 was peak austerity. This is from Budget 2015:

"When the Government took office in March 2011 we set out a plan to regain control ofIreland’s fiscal and economic policies, to grow the economy and to get people back to work.Many people both inside and outside this House believed that we as a Government would failand opposed each and every step we took along the way.But, A Cheann Comhairle, the Government did not fail. We exited the bailout. The publicfinances are under control. The Irish economy is growing at the fastest rate among developedeconomies. The rate of jobs creation in Ireland is one of the fastest in Europe. "

Local elections and general elections don't happen at the same time, that is why the results are never replicated!!!

The main difference is the timing, not the different considerations.

How does an opinion on something else from 2018 have anything to do with the fact of peak austerity being 2015 which is what you claimed?

…you gotta love ffg supporters! yes we ve started to increase our supply, but how have we been trying to do that you ask! by stimulating the demand side of the process, i.e. by doing everything possible to increase the price, so yes supply is increasing, but so to is the price….

…now that goes against all logic of so called 'economic laws' doesnt it! i.e. an increasing supply should in fact help to at least stabilise prices, or best, decease prices, but it isnt, and wont!

2015 "probably" peak austerity is the claim you made, and as on the balance of probability is sufficient to prove a civil claim and stands up in court, your defence of only using "probably" has no merit.

Your claim of 2015 peak austerity can either be backed up by factual evidence or it cannot. Peak austerity isn't an opinion, it is a fact, you can point to the 2015 budgetary measures that were more draconian (or not) than any other year if your claim has any merit.

Austerity lingers for decades, so the 2018 article is meaningless, and if that it all you could find to back up your claim about 2015 peak austerity, the claim is even more laughable than I thought.

There is no credibility to your claim.

That isn't your claim, you cannot change the words you wrote. You have claimed that 2015 "was probably near the peak of the austerity". That is absurd nonsense. The country was well into recovery by then. Here are the tax measures announced in autumn 2014 to apply in 2015:

"To deliver on this plan, I am: Increasing the entry point to the Universal Social Charge to just above €12,000removing 80,000 low income workers from the charge altogether; Increasing the entry point to the second rate of USC from just over €10,000 to justabove €12,000 and the upper ceiling for this band is increasing from just over €16,000to just above the level of the minimum wage; Reducing the 2% USC rate to 1.5%; Reducing the 4% USC rate to 3.5%; Increasing the Income Tax Standard Rate band by €1,000 to €33,800 for singleindividuals; Reducing the top rate of Income Tax from 41% to 40%;"

We must be the first country in the world to have ever introduced tax cuts near the peak of austerity.

Your posts on a range of issues have been consistently wide of the mark for quite some time now.

Edit: decided against engaging :)

There were small tax cuts in a 3 year programme to end austerity measures.

Again, 'near the peak' depends on your point of view. We have your definition, I have mine and neither changes the substance of the point I made. Can you address the substantial point.

The point is, FG's 'Keep The Recovery Going' message of 2016 (which was to continue the austerity perceived by many as unfair, as the Guardian percentages underlines) saw FG lose 10% of their vote and to continue to decline in the following GE. From 29% to 20%.

All you have is opinion, not fact.

That's part of the point.
FG missed a huge opportunity in 2011,
They rolled out unfair austerity to fix something FF mainly caused, they looked after some and cushioned others, and then rehabilitated FF because they knew they needed them.

They have faced the electorate several times and still cannot figure out why their vote is in decline. I.E. the pool of voters benefitting from both of them staying in power is also declining.