Forming the next Irish Government - policies and personalities

Have to disagree there

Everybody voting for the independent group knew their position on who they would prefer for government

Ditto the 2 big parties negotiating a government

The fact you try to suggest otherwise betrays how much nonsense you require to continue ranting

Answer is a lot,an awful lot

who are the regional independent group T,D’s in Cavan Monaghan ?

None?

Get back up the yard so with your talk of Cavan Monaghan voters having any part in the regional groups mandate(s)

Any other misnomers you’d like to introduce to try sustain your rant(s)

3 out of the 5 T.D’s elected in your constituency do not want to be in government with SF

Reflect on that instead maybe is my suggestion instead of trying to diss the perfectly legitimate course the rest are on

As I said, the regional group are perfectly entitled to appoint a negotiator on their behalf

Most of them have worked with him before in a technical group,their voters were well aware of that prior to voting

This you know,you’re entitled to rant about it but that’s all it is,a rant,your latest version

If there was voter fraud electing them,we could discuss that,if Lowry was angling for a cabinet position for himself,we could discuss that

If for some reason those who voted for Lowry are lesser citizens for doing so,we can dismiss that

But endless variations of rants on how hard done by we all are for not having a SF involvement in government,we cannot

Because that’s not the topic of this thread

Start one if you like

And I and whosoever wants, are entitled to criticise it and those who chose to negotiate.
I could say you are 'ranting' about people having legitimate criticisms but I wouldn't be that desperate for an argument TBH.

FFS, shure your'e doing nothing. 😀

Whatever.
It is NOT undemocratic to criticise the actions of a government. This ain't North Korea yet.

My criticism on this occasion has to do with SF only in your wee head.

we are all entitled though to express why a post isn’t valid criticism

Well you certainly got it off your chest.

I'm giving an opinion just like anyone else. If you wish to characterise that as something something, that's fine.

I disagree and you'll just have to live with that and stop dragging the thread off into your tiresome cross examinations. It's not your court of law.

• P.S. You can 'do' what you wish, as can any one. I'm not telling anyone what to do, only giving my opinion on what should be done.

The poster is; Ranting.
The poster has; no right to an opinion because the poster votes for X…are not 'challenging an opinion' it's attacking the poster not the post.

Now I am done with this. If you have an issue with me expressing an opinion take it to moderation.

That is an incredible scene of two civil servants conspiring with people outside a Department to conceal information from a Minister. That would be a dismissal offence. Simple as.

With that example, you have made it clear that you don't understand how the civil service works.

I read on the Indo today that Helen McEntee is heading negotiations on forming the new government. That's reassuring.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fionnan-sheahan-helen-mcentee-hasnt-blown-any-whistles-on-michael-lowry-so-all-must-be-well-surely/a1529097312.html

• Fionnán SheahanToday at 02:30

• Nothing to see here. Move along now. Sure if there was a reason to be concerned about Michael Lowry, wouldn’t Helen McEntee raise a red flag?

The Fine Gael deputy leader is heading the negotiations on the formation for the new government for her party.

She is sitting across the table from Michael Lowry, the de facto leader of the Regional Independents, seeking to meet his demands.

In light of the findings of the ­Moriarty Tribunal and his conviction for tax offences, nearly two-thirds of voters don’t believe Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael should be dealing with the Independent TD. The Ireland Thinks poll for the Sunday Independent shows 63pc say the coalition parties should have nothing to do with him, 24pc say they should and 13pc don’t know.

Just a point of clarity on your post.

PBP who lost votes and seats did campaign to have a mandate to negotiate with Sinn Fein. All others didn't. To a greater or lesser degree, every other party has been critical of Sinn Fein.

Lowry the first,was talking about carers allowance’s and disability benefits with the 2 big negotiating parties yesterday on behalf of the regional group

I think we should all recoil in horror at this self serving abominable carry on

Or maybe,just maybe,we should move on

These are the existing arrangements for briefing. If the FF/FG negotiators want confidentiality, don't invite the civil servants in.

I have no issue with civil servants assisting in the drafting of the Programme for Government, but they can only do so on an impartial basis, i.e that they can share the information with others.

because he was the only person who could have done this?

The negotiations are now all about who gets what job.

All the policy issues are over and dealt with.

It will be spectacularly embarrassing if they can't elect a Taoiseach on January 22.