Web Summit quits Dublin

jmayo wrote: »

That interview this morning was really weird.

Does he actually think that his overpriced conference circle jerk is that important ?

He kept blattering on about ministers from other countries turning up to do deals.
I half expected him to state someone was going to solve the Syrian crisis down in Ballsbridge, of course if only the government would allow them.

He pulled out of the interview with Sharon Ní Bheoláin on the News at Six - at very short notice, she informed us. His deputy, Daragh Hickey filled in for him - I thought he was doing ok under Sharon's grilling, until the end when, as he stood aside, he ripped off the mike in obvious disgust and gave Sharon such a sideways glance that, if looks could kill,
she would have dropped dead on the spot!!

Paddy seems like a right lanky greedy shyster streak of piss tbh!!

tinpib wrote: »

Read an unsubstantiated figure that stall holders were told to prepare €8 portions and so Web Summit are making €12 per voucher.

Dunno where I read that, possibly this thread or on twitter somewhere.

Iirc, it is on a link to the Irish Mirror site

boobar wrote: »

He came across very badly, as someone said earlier they're starting to make Enda and the government look good.

Sharon could have been much harder on him, it seems he's like Paddy in that he doesn't like to be challenged on anything. The ripping the microphone off at the end was hilarious.

Considering he stood in at extremely short notice, he did OK, I thought. He remained very
level headed while Sharon was eviscerating him.
One would almost feel sorry for him! But, he betrayed his fury when he angrily ripped off the mic. As you say, it was hilarious!

brooke 2 wrote: »

And it appears the vendors only got €8.00 out of that €20!:mad:

Where did the rest of the money go?

Price gouging and taking advantage of tourists during events should be illegal, end of story. Not just for the web summit. And the state of public transport in Dublin and the costs thereof (which have increased again this year after at least three years of consecutive fare hikes) is a disgrace.

I find it hard to fault him on anything other than the wifi issue which really isn't an issue for government. Everything else he raised - traffic management (hah! Dublin corpo couldn't manage traffic in a f*ckin' kid's remote controlled highway game), public transport (an absolute disgrace, both in quality of service and in fare costs) and price gouging (shouldn't be allowed, blatantly taking advantage of tourists) - are issues which affect more than the web summit and should be dealt with anyway by the government for other reasons. That's what makes this so infuriating. Other cities have decent public transport, laws about price gouging and proper traffic management. It is the height of learned helplessness for everyone to be assuming that Ireland couldn't do this "just because".

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Price gouging and taking advantage of tourists during events should be illegal, end of story. Not just for the web summit. And the state of public transport in Dublin and the costs thereof (which have increased again this year after at least three years of consecutive fare hikes) is a disgrace.

I find it hard to fault him on anything other than the wifi issue which really isn't an issue for government. Everything else he raised - traffic management (hah! Dublin corpo couldn't manage traffic in a f*ckin' kid's remote controlled highway game), public transport (an absolute disgrace, both in quality of service and in fare costs) and price gouging (shouldn't be allowed, blatantly taking advantage of tourists) - are issues which affect more than the web summit and should be dealt with anyway by the government for other reasons. That's what makes this so infuriating. Other cities have decent public transport, laws about price gouging and proper traffic management. It is the height of learned helplessness for everyone to be assuming that Ireland couldn't do this "just because".

What price gouging went on ? Hotels do have a max rack rate. It's supply and demand. From the interview it's clear that rather than go to the hotels they were trying to get the government to do it, they should have approached them themselves. They also tried to get the government to provide free leap cards.

Can you imagine what would happen then
The ploughing championship , Horse show, funderland, FAI, IRFU, etc would all expect the same treatment.