Like how long would your back hair get if you let it grow.
I wonder about the sovereign wealth fund the Irish government set up. They have some goals like tackling future problems with pensions and climate change. But I wonder if they'll just raid it to bail out the banks the next time there's a economic crisis.
Yeah thats the other thing I wonder about too - the cost of it all. I know you're probably working here and there along the way but it must still be very expensive.
A year would be too long for me. A few months would be nice.
It can be expensive depending on your location or the style of travelling you want to do. Hostels over Hotels etc.
Spend a year in Aus with no job and it would be ludicrously expensive, a year going around SE Asia can be extremely affordable even when not working.
It is worse than Tubridy ever was actually …. the airheadism has gone through the roof under Kielty …..
I've often wondered what would've happened if Russia had invaded Ukraine in 2020 when the world was basically shut down for 2 years and millions of refugees moving about Europe.
It will be raided to pay the bloated pensions and salaries of our highly efficient public servants, past, present and future. Also our very generous social welfare payments.
Our national dept of about €50,000 per person is due to the above and not to pay off the bank debts. Can’t believe we still have people, like yourself, who don’t realise that.
Paying pensions is one of it's stated purposes. So if they eventually use it to pay pensions it would at least be a well executed plan, regardless of whether the plan is a good idea or not.
It's beside the point but wasn't national debt pretty stable around 50bn until it shot up to 200bn because of the banking bailout around 2008?
The banks are awash with money and the wealth fund can't be touched apparently until 2041. All in all it's an excellent idea.
Thank your God that we don't have a left Government that would be intent on spending every penny we have to buy votes.
I didn't know it can't be touched until 2041. That's a good idea.
Is spending money on things that would benefit the country a bad thing? Any government, left or right, who spends money and solves the housing problem by building houses and infrastructure, would have earn a lot of votes.
I think we borrowed €60billion to bail out the banks, most of which has been paid back via NAMA etc. The remaining €140 billion was just to keep the country running.
What is Ireland's busiest and most profitable supermarket?
For a variety of reasons, I have been in a Dunnes Stores. I would never, in normal circumstances, be in.
I have never seen anything like it. It's very busy all the time, but towards the weekend, it's rammed. They can't get the food out fast enough, particularly fruit and veg.
So, any idea of the most profitable supermarket in Ireland?
If pronouns like “they/them” became used within the gay community, it makes me wonder about people that use “he/him” or “she/her” in their email signature. Would they be a straight person making a statement, or a gay person who doesn’t identify as a “they/them”?
In a stadium isn’t it an oxymoron that the area with seating is called a the “stand” area? It must really confuse those learning English?
It comes from the word “grandstand”.
interesting question, but the A.I. search was inconclusive. Tesco is the only one who actually releases their profit margin. On paper it looks like them. BUT it is likely Dunnes because they have the largest market share in Ireland, and due to its dominance in high-margin non-food categories.
Also because Dunnes is a private, family-owned company, it does not have to pay dividends to public shareholders. This allows it to reinvest profits directly into store revamps and premium branding,
The "store-within-a-store" model used by Dunnes Stores is a hybrid retail strategy that distinguishes it from almost every other major supermarket in Ireland. While competitors like Tesco or SuperValu focus primarily on groceries, Dunnes operates as a dual-entity: part high-end supermarket and part department store.
As of May 2026, the Irish grocery market is led by five major retailers. Because most are private entities, "Actual Profit" is only publicly available for Tesco. For others, the figures are calculated by applying industry-standard margins to their reported market share and estimated revenues.
1. Dunnes Stores
lists a total group turnover of €5.2bn. While SuperValu is a franchise model, the group's overall profitability is bolstered by high-margin convenience arms like Centra.4. Lidl Ireland
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/lidl-confirms-e1-4-billion-spend-on-irish-agri-food-in-2025/
confirms a record 13.7% market share. Despite massive revenue, margins are kept low due to a €2bn annual spend on procurement and aggressive price-matching.5. Aldi Ireland
https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2025/09/15/aldi-reports-sales-increase-in-full-year-results/
show Aldi holding an 11.1% market share. Their lower profit figures reflect a deliberate "price shielding" strategy and a multi-billion euro capital investment in new stores.
I wonder how we tolerate individuals to 'earn' dozens of millions a year tax free while it takes a supermarket chain tens of thousands of workers suppliers, dozens of retail locations to earn a profit of 55 million.
I wonder why the local council have waited..until the onset of summer to close the tennis courts in the local park to resurface and revamp the whole set of courts ? there has to be weeks of work in the offing..so why not do it in March or early April ? and be ready for summer ?!
I wonder why with a hundred feet of free parking approximately all around them did the lazy hole contractors for the same council illegally block my gate from 8.30am with a big fûck off van this morning ? One of them sees me observing the situation.. “ errr do you neeed to get out ? “… well, I’d like the freedom if and when I need to, to be able to do so without the need to come talk to one of the assembled gang out of fraggle rock here who think common sense, courtesy and the road traffic act can be gleefully ignored…because they’ve got a hi-vis on.. ⚠️
I agree with this, local council are doing roadworks at two opposite ends of Oranmore whilst Momentum Festival is taking place in the centre of the village with roads closed, looking like it could be a disaster.
Remember the mad buzz around the release of animated movies in the early 00’s? The likes of Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Lilo & Stitch. There was toys in cereal, themed Happy Meals at McDonalds, loads of stuff.
Where I live Dunnes is the most popular. The only non-manic time do shopping on a Saturday is 8.00am as soon as they open. By the time I get out, the car park is filling up. I had a lie in a couple of weeks ago and went in at 10.00am. Took ages to find a car parking space (too many disabled spots - most lying empty) and twice as long to get round the shop.
Why there is clamour for Down's Rory McIlroy to be Irish and not a peep for Antrim's Mark Allen
Because it hasn't really come up? He plays snooker under the NI flag and hasn't had to choose between playing under a British or Irish flag in the Olympics or anything similar as fer as I know.
Plus, snooker isn't as big as golf.
I'm hoping Allen wins the snooker WC as an NI man.
Why do you think it hasn't happened?
I wonder why divorce records are not treated the same as other life records like birth, death and marriage.
When will stupid people be the majority in Ireland.
Traffic - why does it clump up at certain points -motorways for example.
And how long of a staggering of traffic would it take to get it moving again? Surely there has to be some formula to maintain a flow ? What spacings per vehicles and number of vehicles per km of road is optimal?
YouTube videos about this topic are amazing. At some point, traffic starts to behave like a fluid, and conforms to maths related to fluids.
You get stoppages on motorways which behave like a wave. No actual reason to stop except the fact that cars in front have had to stop. It takes a break in traffic to break the wave.
They have tried some things like smart motorways but they seem counterintuitive so people don't conform to them so they don't always work in practice. The theory is good, but people don't always behave rationally
I have often wondered what it would be like to get drone footage of traffic jam hotspots over different days; would there be a way to see the exact cause. I can understand accidents causing back ups but a lot of times there aren’t any, unfortunately, it may just be a volume issue, which they probably aren’t too many answers to.
We get the politicians we deserve so I’d say for the past 110 years. 🙄
Any videos you recommend? I also seem to remember reading that some researchers tried to base traffic systems on ant colonies.
Im talking about the stupid people who think sinn fein in charge would have us living in heaven on earth just because thats what they said would happen. And the people who thought the farmers and hauliers were 100% correct in blocking the roads on the whole country. Then the university of life people, all the crazy conspiracy theory "jews are controlling us" "putin is great" "Trump is great" "Hitler was right" "immigrants are all bad" morons.
There isn't as many of these folk around as you think.
