Election to be called Fri - predict outcome

Don't vote for them so.

It's not rocket science.

Neither will ever truly be fixed. They’re massive oil tankers, with the ministers merely able to marginally move course by a degree or two. I think the general publics understanding of how much influence a single person can have on entities of that scale is hugely overstated. To loosely quote Warren Buffet - when a good CEO joins a bad business. It is the businesses reputation which will remain in tact.

That’s really interesting on Donnelly and I can actually visualise him being like that (never met him personally). I wouldn’t vote for him ever again had I experienced that too.

Suprised at your level of anger on housing given your always challenging the status quo on vacancy.
Goes against the popular catastrophising but It’s very difficult to make a well considered argument that this government has been unsuccessful on housing. I know you’re ideologically opposed to HTB etc. which I can understand but at a high level on the key metrics.

• Huge increase in completions over its lifetime exceeding targets (which turned out to be too low due to immigration)
• Building more homes than any other country in EU
• Affordibility deterioration COVID relatively less than most other countries with looser lending
• Continue to be among the most affordable first world countries in the world for buying a house. Dublin in particular being a real outlier for how cheap it is relative to other capital cities.

Irelands housing problems started in 2005 and can largely be blamed on the Central Bank of that time (who have since over corrected). This government is only picking up the mess.

Almost every country in the world has had the exact same story on housing that we have, only to a worse degree. It’s too statistically unlikely that every government is just ‘useless’

I make no secret of voting No. 1 for the Greens - it will be Roderic O'Gorman in this case - and putting Sinn Fein close to last on the ballot. Because I am so anti-SF, it has me labelled as FFG by the usual suspects.

John Walsh will probably get my number 2, a hard-working local in Labour, so the highest either will get is 3, probably Emer Currie, out of respect I have for her father and again the hard work she puts in. After that, probably Soc Dems and possibly independents before Chambers. Coppinger, Donnelly, Aontu and the far right will have a tussle for my last few preferences.

That still won't stop certain posters going after me personally as they continually do.

If it’s not the lack of housing that’s your concern, then what is it?

From a price perspective we would be at least bottom quartile relative to peers.

Probably the easiest place to actual make a case against FFG would be the lack of availability and price of rentals (which are probably upper quartile). Thats ultimately due to us being too slow to encourage investment funds in to build high density BTL apartments en masse. Some blame does lie with FFG alright.

I really struggle to see SF increasing the necessary investment in BTL apartments!!

Ff bankrupted the country. Fg have over seen record homelessness and a record housing crisis as well as a record waiting lists and over crowding in hospitals. To me, all that makes it clear that FFG are not fit for government.

Since you're happy to throw out assumptions about me, I thought it would be rude if I didn't follow suit tbh.

100%

Got an average salaried job and looking for a home? Nothing for you here, says SF.

"I agree the government dropped the ball on tackling vacancy. It’s been far too slow. I do see it as a relatively fringe issue though. I’m also unclear how it makes any real difference whether you build a new unit or bring back a vacant unit. It’s still a unit?"

So what you've said here is that to build a new unit is also a fringe issue?

Also, you see no difference in bringing an existing building back into service as opposed to building a new one from nothing?

One constituency? FF down more? Be fantastic if Seoige falls on her back side!

SF losing Farrell, and not having a seat in a constituency like Galway West while looking at Government, would both be disasters for them.

She's in with a reasonable chance of holding her seat on those figures, far from certain, though.

I didn't realise Noel Grealish was still around.

Former PD, he will likely support any government led by FF or FG.

16% to get a seat, 14% between the two FF as it is; albeit they won't transfer that neatly.