That's the problem though, there isn't a tiny amount of the sick feckers out there now.
Irish Politics
- Thread starter JakeC
- Start date
That's the problem though, there isn't a tiny amount of the sick feckers out there now.
Ah, there is. But that's still too many, especially for a parent.
How can you realistically know though? most of them can blend into society with ease. It's not as if they are labled with a big sticker on their head.
Well the same question could be asked to you who reckons there are lots?
I base my assertion on knowing people and knowing most are ok and horrified by things like this, but as 1 is too many the discussion is moot.
I'd say there's more than we'd like to imagine, but thankfully incidents like this with strangers are so uncommon in Ireland that this has caused such outrage. Realistically the biggest danger for children comes within the family home.
So..was talking to a girl whose kid goes to the same school as mine. She is from Offaly and was heading down there this afternoon to be with her sister as her sisters husband is going in for a serious operation. I casually asked if the HSE was as bad as everyone made out. She said yep its worse, basically if you dont have money you are fecked. Then she said Ireland probably has the biggest disparity between rich and poor outside of the United States. I imagined she was exaggerating because likely Brazil and a few others would be up there too but how true was that statement from her?
We have always had more socially disenfranchised than is acknowledged, not sure where we rank though
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/worker-conned-out-of-4000-in-oil-rig-job-scam-29630565.html
I know that lad very well, went to national and secondary school together and got up to a bit of mischief together over the years, he's actually a brother of Gordon Glynn who played hurling for Dublin up until a few years ago. He's getting a bit of stick albeit light hearted enough stuff for getting snared like that but fair play to him for going public with it after, it might stop another lad getting conned out of a few quid.
I know that lad very well, went to national and secondary school together and got up to a bit of mischief together over the years, he's actually a brother of Gordon Glynn who played hurling for Dublin up until a few years ago. He's getting a bit of stick albeit light hearted enough stuff for getting snared like that but fair play to him for going public with it after, it might stop another lad getting conned out of a few quid.
Ah love me a good auld referendum.
Yeah, brilliant the way the country has engaged with it.
The facebook fecking generation, moan moan moan, but when it comes to actually doing anything beyond clicking 'like' or sharing a meaningful photo, well, no, shur you'd have to leave facebook for 5 minutes to do that.
Mad that you can propose to abolish one arm of government without it any sort of meaningful debate. Don't get me wrong, the senate is a waste of space, but its not alone there, thats not to say it doesn't have the potential to be a powerful house serving public interest. It shouldn't be a retirement home for failed politicians or a handy number for people who scratched the right backs along the way, there should be a reform option but that doesn't suit the government, either way they will paint the result as a victory, if its not passed it will be 'the people of the country have spoken'.
I think it will be a massive shame if the senate referendum is passed, not least because it will make the Dail the only forum where legislation is debated..... where cheif whips like Paul fecking Kehoe (a typical goverment yes man who barely has enough intelligence to tie his shoe laces) hold the power and were FG have guillotined debate on over 60% of the legislation they have introduced.
The most damning thing the government seem to be able to say is 'it costs the tax payer 20m a year', probably about half as much as gets spent on toilet paper in government buildings. It's like telling someone their fingernails are a little long and advising they cut off their hands to solve the problem. The urge to respond to people moaning about the 20m it costs the tax payer by asking whether or not they actually pay tax is hard to stifle.
I'll be voting no, I'd rather wear a condom that I'm not sure is working than wear no condom at all (actually Id prefer to wear none at all but you get the point).
As for the court of appeal, well I'd prefer if the legal system functioned in they way its supposed to rather than introduce another level of complexity to make up for the fact that it doesn't. Again there seems to be no appetite to look maybe restructuring or something that provides a better solution.
The entire referendum is all or nothing, no in between, no interesting ideas, no lateral thinking, not what we need. My opinion is you basically have a the government wanting to abolish the senate because it will suit them and judges proposing another court because it will suit them.
The facebook fecking generation, moan moan moan, but when it comes to actually doing anything beyond clicking 'like' or sharing a meaningful photo, well, no, shur you'd have to leave facebook for 5 minutes to do that.
Mad that you can propose to abolish one arm of government without it any sort of meaningful debate. Don't get me wrong, the senate is a waste of space, but its not alone there, thats not to say it doesn't have the potential to be a powerful house serving public interest. It shouldn't be a retirement home for failed politicians or a handy number for people who scratched the right backs along the way, there should be a reform option but that doesn't suit the government, either way they will paint the result as a victory, if its not passed it will be 'the people of the country have spoken'.
I think it will be a massive shame if the senate referendum is passed, not least because it will make the Dail the only forum where legislation is debated..... where cheif whips like Paul fecking Kehoe (a typical goverment yes man who barely has enough intelligence to tie his shoe laces) hold the power and were FG have guillotined debate on over 60% of the legislation they have introduced.
The most damning thing the government seem to be able to say is 'it costs the tax payer 20m a year', probably about half as much as gets spent on toilet paper in government buildings. It's like telling someone their fingernails are a little long and advising they cut off their hands to solve the problem. The urge to respond to people moaning about the 20m it costs the tax payer by asking whether or not they actually pay tax is hard to stifle.
I'll be voting no, I'd rather wear a condom that I'm not sure is working than wear no condom at all (actually Id prefer to wear none at all but you get the point).
As for the court of appeal, well I'd prefer if the legal system functioned in they way its supposed to rather than introduce another level of complexity to make up for the fact that it doesn't. Again there seems to be no appetite to look maybe restructuring or something that provides a better solution.
The entire referendum is all or nothing, no in between, no interesting ideas, no lateral thinking, not what we need. My opinion is you basically have a the government wanting to abolish the senate because it will suit them and judges proposing another court because it will suit them.
I will be voting yes to both. The Seanad have to be the most useless bunch of cnuts on the planet. It's fill of cnuts trying to build a rep to get to the Dail or as a retirement home for lads leaving the Dail. I want to just whip the condom off and go bareback now.
The Blueshirts want to abolish the upper house. That's how Nazi Germany started, literally.
Reform is needed, this is not reform. Popper sums it up.
Voting in FG was the dumbest thing imaginable, up til now, if we vote our Seanad out of existence we deserve no pity for what follows.
Reduce democracy to save 20m quid. It beggars belief.
Reform is needed, this is not reform. Popper sums it up.
Voting in FG was the dumbest thing imaginable, up til now, if we vote our Seanad out of existence we deserve no pity for what follows.
Reduce democracy to save 20m quid. It beggars belief.
Sure what was the alternative? FF ran the country into the ground and nobody has the balls to vote for other parties.
That's hardly an answer. What was the actual alternative? Did people seriously want to keep in the party that brought the country to its knees? We were pretty much stuck with FG getting in. The Seanad can go feck themselves.
Actually, if we abolish it they can't. All power to legislate will rest in the Dail, where a party whip system is operated...... democracy.
Saying as I've already laid out a template for rejuvenating and making the Football more fair and democratic today I may as well set out my template for the Legislature too.
Keep the Dail similar to how it is but reduce the number of TD's. A TD in Dublin should represent the same amount of people as a TD in Leitrim so if that means the entire county of Leitrim only gets one or even has to share on with Sligo for example then so be it. Maybe have around 100 TD's.
The Seanad should then have 1/2 Senators elected from each county. My preference would be to make the upper house a 32 county house but that would potentially cause too much agro in the North so if it had to be a 26 county house then so be it. Allow them both to create legislation and pass it on to the other for verification. If one house vetos let the other pass it with a 2/3 majority.
Keep the President as a figure head.
Keep the Dail similar to how it is but reduce the number of TD's. A TD in Dublin should represent the same amount of people as a TD in Leitrim so if that means the entire county of Leitrim only gets one or even has to share on with Sligo for example then so be it. Maybe have around 100 TD's.
The Seanad should then have 1/2 Senators elected from each county. My preference would be to make the upper house a 32 county house but that would potentially cause too much agro in the North so if it had to be a 26 county house then so be it. Allow them both to create legislation and pass it on to the other for verification. If one house vetos let the other pass it with a 2/3 majority.
Keep the President as a figure head.
This could be a problem if a radical political party ever came to power.
What? It is an answer, in fact it's THE answer, the electorate was as enraged as I've ever seen them and they took the most cowardly option. The other options were every other option. Including giving FF the job of cleaning up their own mess, surely with hindsight and the decisions FG made you can see this?
We were stuck with FG because we lacked the balls to take any other option. Like defaulting. Did you read the list of misinformation handed out by FG in the Times last week?
As for feck the Seanad? Do you really think the other 3 'houses' of democracy are firing well enough that we can lose one?
Personally I think all 4 suck, but the answer in not amputation.
I'm not joking when I point to Hitler abolishing the upper house. There was good reason though, Germany was in a period of severe austerity and lacking in political identity.
Oh.
If a party gets into power through democratic means and there's no upper house what's to stop them grabbing power for a prolonged period?
Like, I know it's not a likely scenario but if a party gets a big majority and there's no checks and balances they could pass laws to stretch out a term however long they want.
In theory, yes. One house is a step away from disaster. Which is why most democracies have 2 houses. The idea that it's a risk worth saving 20m for is absurd.
agree 100%. This will make their lives sooo much easier its untrue. Another bad thing is a 2nd referendum will now be need if we ever want to bring the Seanad back. Plus if it did return it'll be on the Dail's terms....
Really think the NO side didnt use the media correctly at all here. Even if they won the live debate, M Martin and M McDowell standing beside each other is never going to work....
As for the overall system in Ireland, all the parties are bascially the same these days. FF gets all the hate for bringing the country to its knees. Simple fact of the matter is the current Government, whilst in opposition back then wanted them to spend more!!! If FG were in power orignally we'd be still in the same boat.
If I do vote tonight it will be no, not that it will matter this time unfortunetly....
Also I know comparisons to Nazi Germany are mostly hilarious, but they didn't see it coming either. The constitution the had previously was called The Weimar Constitution and was on paper, the perfect democracy, but as it was to liberal with checks and balances nowt got done ... and the other cnut used this as a campaign to get shit done, and boy did he.
The comparisons to Nazi Germany are only useless because we'd never be able to organise ourselves to walk in such a synchronised fashion. I do look good in leather though.
I'm too short and angry.... then again...
Give ex pats the vote and Sinn Fein will be easily be the biggest party!!! 
Give the daily mail another few years and the BNP will be a force.
We've got plenty of problems in terms of court lists etc. but at the moment the Supreme Court are completely hamstrung by the fact that we've allowed any old gobshite access to what should the ultimate court of legal authority. This is a good first step in as much as the plan is to filter out most of the frivolous stuff from people with an axe to grind and try to bring the Supreme Court back into the realm of dealing with matters of grave public interest. I know people have plenty of (valid) complaints about the legal profession, but the current approach has been proven, time and again, not to work with regard to clearing the lists.
I genuinely don't think in this instance that it is self interest. It's about re-establishing what the Supreme Court is supposed to be about (or at least a useful first step, the next I'd like to see being the reduction of legal costs by virtue of cutting out these established bureaucratic delays that have been built into the system). Yes, a few more Judges would be hired, but in all honesty, we should have at least a dozen more anyway, with more High Court sittings around the country, so we have a genuine sense of giving everyone reasonable access to justice.
I have no issue with proposals for the legislature, but I'm not that well informed.
Sorry, I meant legal system, obviously. So uniformed I didn't know what it was called.
That's what happens when you sleep in a hedge on your 40th birthday.
Moses, I demand you fix the political system in this country.
I'll have a go but only if it involves power tools.
The fist thing that needs to happen is people need to read up, and make proper informed decision on things and not be scare mongered one way or the other. I'm very pro Europe and I was so annoyed when the last referendum didn't go through the first time primarily because I knew that the majority of no voters were either voting no as an anti-government protest vote or were easily scared by the ridiculous no campaign that ran some of the most mental bullshit spin I've ever heard (none of which (unsurprisingly) has come true).
I haven't voted yet today because I've been busy but likely it'll be a yes and a no when I do later. Not because anyone told me to but because I think that's what's right to do.
I haven't voted yet today because I've been busy but likely it'll be a yes and a no when I do later. Not because anyone told me to but because I think that's what's right to do.
People not informing themselves is undemocratic.
And sleeping in hedges gives a whole other perspective.
And sleeping in hedges gives a whole other perspective.