I think it will be FF/FG again with god knows who. Hopefully a left wing party
It will be November 15th
The reality is you can have all the shiny manifestos you can dream up but things like that will cost FG votes. There is now a lot riding on the last few days of the campaign and the 3 way debate.
I am convinced FG will get a smacking. I think the polls are wrong. A lot depends on turnout and especially young voters who aren't brainwashed like usual FFG voters.
My expectation and hope is that many small parties will do well - SDs, Ind Ireland, Labour, Aontu. Independents will also do very well.
I agree with Your expectations except I sincerely hope Labour are wiped out. I’ve backed them all my life until along came Gilmore, and since then they’ve turned totally anti ‘The Worker’. Not forgetting the Rabbitte admission ( I’m paraphrasing) ‘we lie to get into Kildare Street’.
They are totally going to be wiped. Hopefully the SDs do well.
fg will be absolutely fine folks, ffg will prop each other up for a very long time yet!
I saw a clip on the 9 o clock news last night of Harris literally turning his back on a woman who was telling him that the government has done nothing for carers. I thought to myself "Well that's not a good look". I later saw a lot of people on social media commenting about it as well.
His team must have seen those comments as well as I see he's addressed it this morning
I was in Kanturk last night at the end of a very long day and I was talking to a woman who works in a Section 39 disability organisation and she was raising issues with me and I want to say I didn't give her the time that I should've given her and I feel really bad about that because it's not who I am," Mr Harris said.He added: "It's not what makes me tick. I really, really passionately believe in disability services.
I was in Kanturk last night at the end of a very long day and I was talking to a woman who works in a Section 39 disability organisation and she was raising issues with me and I want to say I didn't give her the time that I should've given her and I feel really bad about that because it's not who I am," Mr Harris said.
He added: "It's not what makes me tick. I really, really passionately believe in disability services.
…you d have to give it to him, since his time in politics, he had dramatically changed how we approach disabilities such as autism, for example, making the whole assessment process much easier to access for all, so credit where its due!
How much does a PR consultant charge for that?
He was caught out and trying to back track. Chap is a pretty useless operator imo.
get ready now folks, hes gonna be our taoiseach for another while yet!
They won’t be getting any kind of vote from me.
FF are going to have a strong performance, hopefully SD will too
wont be getting my vote either, but we have to now suck it up, its gonna be ffg for a very long time….
Is the founder & CEO of Autism Ireland Adam Harris a brother of Simon?
Yes
poor Taois, having to apologise publicly through the media, and this makes the main story on RTE repeatedly today
I think it was the plight of his brother's condition that drew Simon into politics. I could be wrong though.
i think you could be right, i think it was one of the main reasons
I think yer one attacking him for doing 'nothing' for care workers probably hit a raw spot - given it is a particular interest of his. He should of got one of his aids to take details with a promise to follow up ASAP.
it ll leave a sting alright, but it ll be grand come friday
to be fair, the campaign is a draining one, so a miss step is understandable, but….
Of course that would have been the right thing to do. But I think yesterday highlighted why SH ought not to be Taoiseach, that coupled with his ‘performance’ last Monday night, where he looked perplexed at times.
Surprising that he didn't have a proper answer and ended up in the wrong.
Her claim that the "Government is doing nothing for disability" is nonsense on self-righteous stilts. Here's an interesting paper by the non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Office which says that this year alone the Government will spend €9,320 Million directly on disability services and another €2,951 Million which is partially attributable to disability. In addition, "forgone revenue from tax credits and relief that can be associated with disability was as much as €722 million".
Admittedly, a disability epidemic is spreading in this country. Tragically, the younger generation is most affected.
Amongst those now in their mid-20s, 6 per cent were reported as having a disability. For those now in their teens, the proportion is 23 per cent. That is a horrifying statistic but no politician dares mention it.
Claire Byrne had MLMD spinning, looking for answers in vain. So not everyone has answers at the ready.
Yes I Heard that too. Of all the interviewers, I must mention Sarah McInerney on Drivetime. In the main She misses nothing.
Is there an opinion poll this weekend?
Yep, Sindo/Ireland Thinks , clickbait 'taster' for it here
Could be others too…
This.
Optics is everything though, facts really come a far second.
Autism services are appalling here, I have 2 kids with it, I've been looking for services for 15 years. So I know exactly what I'm talking about, don't throw out meaningless figures to me "that we are doing everything and making a difference". The services were actually better 11 years ago, at least I could get an assessment then for my oldest lad, I just paid out 2k for my youngest one's last month.
I roll my eyes when a politician says " we can't fix things over night", especially when this particular party has been in power for the last 14 years.
…and the most disturbing part of it is the connection with the harris family and this reality!
When my oldest started in his primary school 10 years ago, we had therapists in the school, it was stretched but they were there. Under FG therapists have actually been removed from special schools.
They government came out last summer announcing a pilot program for reintroducing therapists in specials schools, my son's secondary was one of them. I'll spoil the surprise, not a single therapist has been hired to date. 6 schools that's all they had to follow through on.
So that woman in Kanturk is exactly right and anyone criticizing her hasn't a clue of the reality of been a carer of a disabled or special needs person. Have a bit of respect for her opinion and emotions.
You say therapists have been removed. Do you mean they were in the job and had the funding for the job pulled and the therapist fired or they just didn't/couldn't fill vacant slots ?
