If Collins had lived...

Xluna · 06-02-2010 03:54PM #1

What do you think Ireland would be like today? Would we be better of or worse in the long run? What key events do you think would have been changed for better or worse? Do you think Northern Ireland would have been reclaimed and at what price? Would Catholicism have had the monopoly it had on the country?

MagicMarker · 06-02-2010 03:57PM

Don't know, don't care.

Jesus Wept · 06-02-2010 03:57PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Collins_%28boxer%29 ?

Mike 1972 · 06-02-2010 04:00PM

Xluna wrote: »

What key events do you think would have been changed for better or worse?

Suprisingly little

Sulmac · 06-02-2010 04:01PM

An ironic thing is that his argument that the Irish Free State was a "stepping stone" to a full Republic - which was rejected by the anti-treaty side and led to the Civil War [not partition, it was relatively minor as everyone at the time felt the Border Commission would remove Tyrone and Fermanagh from NI, making it economically weak and inevitably joining the Free State within a couple of years] - was proven by the one man who fought tooth and nail against it, De Valera in 1937 with "his" Constitution that we use to this day.

Also, I'm sure this thread is more suited to Politics or History...

Lux23 · 06-02-2010 04:01PM

Dev ended up following the same route that Collins planned to take so I don't think things would be all that different.

ejmaztec · 06-02-2010 04:03PM

A donkey running the country would have done a better job than De Valera. He was living 100 years in the past even then, whereas Collins was at least up to date with what was going on in the world.

People seem to be making excuses for De Valera these days, but it will take a long time, if not an eternity, for me to accept any of them.

irishdub14 · 06-02-2010 04:04PM

The 'rebels' in munster would have been crushed.....! :P

Xluna · 06-02-2010 04:05PM

Lux23 wrote: »

Dev ended up following the same route that Collins planned to take so I don't think things would be all that different.

He was a lot less insular and religious than Dev though. It would be interesting to see how he handled the economy and society in general. I think it would have been considerably less conservative in pretty much every aspect.

OutlawPete · 06-02-2010 04:08PM

Xluna wrote: »

Would we be better of or worse in the long run?

Always good to see people reach 120 so I'll go 'Better'.

Xluna · 06-02-2010 04:10PM

OutlawPete wrote: »

Always good to see people reach 110 so I'll go 'Better'.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 06-02-2010 04:13PM

How would Collins have stopped us from becoming a cantion run by a corrupt organisation that was heavily enflueniced by outside and corporate cultures...?

OutlawPete · 06-02-2010 04:13PM

Xluna wrote: »

Sorry, 120 .. a fellow Boardsie knocked around last night with some 16 month old JD and don't feel the Mae West.

caseyann · 06-02-2010 04:16PM

Shame he died:( i believe he would have shaped the face of politics and the dail. He was a man of the people.

Xluna · 06-02-2010 04:17PM

OutlawPete wrote: »

Sorry, 120 .. a fellow Boardsie knocked around last night with some 16 month old JD and don't feel the Mae West.

Nope,still don't have a clue what you're on about.

Mike 1972 · 06-02-2010 04:18PM

Sulmac wrote: »

An ironic thing is that his argument that the Irish Free State was a "stepping stone" ....was proven by the one man who fought tooth and nail against it, De Valera in 1937 ......

A lot of people would also take the view that for all his anti-"partition" rhetoric De Valera was actually suprisingly comfortable with it and that many of his actions (confirming Unionist fears regarding "Rome Rule", Breaking the last remaining constitutional ties with Britain, presiding over economic stagnation) effectively copperfastened it.

On the other hand Ireland under Collins was hardly a liberal progressive utopia either. One of the first acts of the newly established state was to pass legislation regarding film censorship. This at a time when Ireland was a war-torn state on the brink of economic collapse.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 06-02-2010 04:29PM

caseyann wrote: »

Shame he died:( i believe he would have shaped the face of politics and the dail. He was a man of the people.

So, alegedyl, was Bertie.

In the short run, yes, but in the long run I think things would have turned out much the same because of the influence of foreign cultures and values is stronger than our own.

OutlawPete · 06-02-2010 04:34PM

Xluna wrote: »

Nope,still don't have a clue what you're on about.

Thread title is "If Collins Had Lived.."

Well, if he had - he'd be 120.

Thanks whoring FAIL.

Nothing to see here, move along now folks.

Xluna · 06-02-2010 04:41PM

OutlawPete wrote: »

Thread title is "If Collins Had Lived.."

Well, if he had - he'd be 120.

Thanks whoring FAIL.

Nothing to see here, move along now folks.

Pot calling kettle black?:pac:

OutlawPete · 06-02-2010 04:47PM

Xluna wrote: »

Pot calling kettle black?:pac:

Sure I was calling my post the FAIL, not yours. So thats, Kettle calling the Kettle

caseyann · 06-02-2010 04:54PM

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

So, alegedyl, was Bertie.

In the short run, yes, but in the long run I think things would have turned out much the same because of the influence of foreign cultures and values is stronger than our own.

Not even in close proximity with Collins.Bertie would be a donkey in thoroughbred race.

bonerm · 06-02-2010 05:09PM

If Collins was around today I'd imagine he'd be managing a football team in South East England now and acting like a pigheaded gobshyte.

hooradiation · 06-02-2010 05:19PM

OutlawPete wrote: »

Thread title is "If Collins Had Lived.."

Well, if he had - he'd be 120.

Thanks whoring FAIL.

Nothing to see here, move along now folks.

It's ok, i saw what you did there.

justaday · 06-02-2010 05:22PM

pearse envisioned an ireland of 50 million people. i just wish the british has shot that dev chancer. de valera was a traitor and destroyed ireland.

i firmly belive tho ireland is and always was destined to be a failed state, if we were the other side of the brits things would have been so much better but lets face it they PWN us in every way.

Mike 1972 · 06-02-2010 05:28PM

justaday wrote: »

pearse envisioned an ireland of 50 million people.

:eek: :rolleyes:

caseyann · 06-02-2010 05:31PM

justaday wrote: »

pearse envisioned an ireland of 50 million people. i just wish the british has shot that dev chancer. de valera was a traitor and destroyed ireland.

i firmly belive tho ireland is and always was destined to be a failed state, if we were the other side of the brits things would have been so much better but lets face it they PWN us in every way.

Only thing England has had is a structured government for longer so any wonder why they would be ahead.
They are in same boat as us and have been in worse than us.I would say if any pwn going on would be us on them;)

If Irish stopped looking over seas at other countries and accepted we arent them and is different like they see us and every other country we wouldnt be trying to be something we are not.

ejmaztec · 06-02-2010 05:34PM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

:eek: :rolleyes:

It would have worked had they built a 50 foot high electric fence around the island to keep everyone in.

justaday · 06-02-2010 05:42PM

if ireland had the same population density as belgium/holland/england then our population would be over 40 million. netherlands is smaller than leinster but has 16 million population

mikom · 06-02-2010 05:53PM

Xluna wrote: »

If Collins had lived...
What do you think Ireland would be like today?

Full to the tits with zombies, I reckon.

Mike 1972 · 06-02-2010 05:55PM

mikom wrote: »

Full to the tits with zombies, I reckon.

No change then :pac:

kev9100 · 06-02-2010 06:05PM

If Collins had lived, the CNG Government would have been a lot less conservative and would not have sucked up as much as they did Catholic Church.

However, the real question is if Collins had lived, would Dev have won the election in 1932? Personally, I don't think he would have. Cosgrave, although a decent taoiseach and man, was a terrible campaigner who allowed himself to be destroyed by the FF machine without putting up a fight. If Collins had lived, he would'nt have let that happen.

If Collins had lived...

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