Off Topic Thread too point uh

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Pearse Doherty isn't Northern, he's young, he's got no past links to the troubles, as far as I know. He is their spokesperson on finance though :eek:

Yup, that's what I meant. The only realistic challenger is another southerner.

The senior guys north of the border are lads like McGuinness (who's also going to retire soon) and Murphy...both convicted IRA members with links to serious crimes.

Deleted User wrote: »

Ireland crying out for a socially liberal, economically prudent party.

If you value society and people over economy in Ireland, you must vote 'left'.
If you value the economy at all, you must vote 'right'.

There is space for a party that presents realistic economic policies with realistic social benefits. Colm O'Gorman and Michael O'Leary to head it up

Caption: "Honestly, why do keep people forgetting I exist."

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ireland crying out for a socially liberal, economically prudent party.

If you value society and people over economy in Ireland, you must vote 'left'.
If you value the economy at all, you must vote 'right'.

There is space for a party that presents realistic economic policies with realistic social benefits. Colm O'Gorman and Michael O'Leary to head it up

Didn't Colm O'Gorman run for the PDs once?

Yes always thought was weird party for him to become involved in
Always thought he'd be a good senator

Deleted User wrote: »

economically prudent!!!

You do realise that there are 2 other members of that party who would most definitely not fit that bill.

Donnelly was brilliant at the beginning of the last Dáil, but I felt he veered dangerously towards re-election politics at the end which was very disappointing.

There's a need for a strong opposition to hold the Government to account, and Donnelly was certainly a great voice from day 1 of the last tenure. The opposition to IW (but not Water Charges - important difference!) became an opposition to Water Charges, that's the step away from economic prudence that really hurt his credibility in the 'space' above.

I actually agree with you, and I was probably just pulling your leg a little with the post. (It was a good picture so I wanted to use it).

That said I think the party you are describing is the party Stephen Donnelly thinks his Social Democrats will become. He expects the people who join it to be far closer to his politics than to Shortall's, (for instance).

Something that will become far more politically likely when they do an analysis of their voters and realise they probably took more votes from the right than they did from the left, and were successful in traditionally wealthier areas.

I too was disappointed at how negative Donnelly became at the end. However, if this Dail does manage to sleep walk into another economic crisis it won't be because he isn't up there every week warning them that the financial world is more delicate in 2016 than it was in 2015 or 2014. I also think he is reasonably financially prudent.

The place I find myself in most agreement with the Soc Dems is education.

• They ignored the student vote and focussed primarily on primary and seconary level students, which is where the greatest level of inequality exists in Irish education.
• They promised to reduce fees to Dutch levels, which is obviously a compromise on the free education the rest of the left promised
• They will increase funding to EU average levels.

They did all of this in measurable ways with 3 points.

20:1 student teacher ratio in primary by end of term.
2k college fees by end of term (steadily decreased)
EU average level uni funding by end of term (steadily increasing).

I like measurable goals, and I think they set those goals at reasonable levels.

Finally getting around to that Making a Murderer series, half-way through

1) I never believe anything anyone says
2) The nephew is as thick as 2 planks, there is no way he could ever plan anything, and given the way he was interviewed, I think it is safe to assume much of what he said may not be credible
3) The prosecuting lawyer is crap. The defence lawyers are good.
4) I can easily believe the police could use the murder to their advantage. It is a big jump to suggest they were the brains behind it (which hasn't been stated). In a small town, it would be hard to keep multiple involved parties quiet on planting evidence.
5) If Avery doesn't do it, clearly someone else does.

I feel the documentary doesn't at all delve enough into Stephen, a more rounded picture would make it easier to judge his character and also ability to bare-face lie. In fact (probably for time reasons), none of the characters are examined too deeply.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I didn't need to watch it or learn anything about it because I remember when it happened and I know OJ did it.

But...but...the glove didn't fit! :eek: