It's a long time ago though. I think Labour would set us back competitively and as for Enda...everytime I see him, I think about The Breffmeister from The Apprentice !
The last time they were in government from 94 to 97,
In effect, this may be where the PS/CS has a lot of power in that if they were united they could shift the balance in the next election. There are certainly plenty of days I wish I had the power to elect or not my own employer. So in a nut shell could FF be voted out for the pay cuts, if you had the entire PS/CS vote against them, maybe.
It's a long time ago though. I think Labour would set us back competitively and as for Enda...everytime I see him, I think about The Breffmeister from The Apprentice !
I have to disagree based on speaking to colleagues overseas. A view has developed that there is no point in doing business with a government that could be thrown out at any time (1 breavement could do it) and almost certainly wont be in power for the forseeable future.
In times of crisis you need stability and public support. The current government has neither and this impacts on everything they do.
You also totally discount public confidence. We cannot install public confidence in our economy with the current government. Public confidence and support encourages people to start in business, expand their business, increases consumer confidence and spending etc etc. This alone yield a couple percentage points of growth per annum.
FF has proven that it doesnt have the appetite for the tough decisions that are necessary. It picks the low lying fruit such as public service wages, stealth taxes, squeeze the middle ranking PAYE worker. It has a 100% flunk rate on the decisions that are needed to get our country going i.e.
1. Take the hit on Anglo NOW - dont throw good money after bad.
2. Significant reform of the health service (eliminate admin waste).
3. Significant reform of SW with an emphasis on protecting the temporary unemployed person and reducing payments to those who are able, but have no intention of working.
4. Cleanout of banking executives - why on earth is the government negotiating with the executives who got us into this mess? They should be negotiating with the owners i.e. the shareholders and saying clean your bank up and sack the incompetents or you wont be in the guarantee.
5. Meaningful reform of the public sector i.e. eliminating the unnecessary through compulsory redundancies rather than the broad brush cut the everyones wages so that those who do a meaningful job suffer to keep those who dont employed.
Yes, I agree. Much of the ranting about what FF are doing now seems to have more to do with deflected anger at peoples own stupidity over the last few years. What Bertie and many of the existing bunch of mutton-heads did is tantamount to treason but that’s no reason not to look what they are doing at the moment in a rational way. I would vote for any party that was going to make Brian Lenihan minister for finance. I would vote against any party that would put Bertie in charge.I think if FF are voted out it will be more to do with getting us into this mess than the steps they are taking to get us out of it.
Returning a government that hasnt worked and isnt working = 0% chance of change.
With every other combination of parties there is % chance that there will be change for the better - I admit for some parties, it may be a small percentage (and for others it may be a large one), but a small percent chance is better than no chance.
FF are a party made up of people. If the people change then then the nature of the party changes. The same applies to most other parties. Policies and the ability of the people in a position to run with them are what matters.@purple
Could you explain your post a bit more??? Are you not aware that it was FF that led us into this crisis? And why vote for a crowd that screwed you? That is perverse and if that is the normal approach we are doomed. A minister for finance is a figurehead! Are you then saying if lenihan goes to fianna gael you will vote fianna gael???
lost
It's a long time ago though. I think Labour would set us back competitively and as for Enda...everytime I see him, I think about The Breffmeister from The Apprentice !
You just dont seem to get it . . You are advocating change for the sake of it . . Like "sure we cant do much worse can we!" . . Seriously, people need never wonder how we are in such a state . .
Lenihan has been the only shining light in the Dail for many a year (I include the opposition in that) . . Hes actually the only politician whose hand I would dearly love to shake. I think he has bee superb and gets better the longer he is in that position . . Only for him, I think we would be sitting with Greece as the basketcase of Europe.
That aside, Im not talking about returning the same government, Im just not ruling out FF because the name is a dirty word . . As a nation, if we really want to learn from our mistakes we need to accept that we all made mistakes and one of them was not thinking of the greater good of the country . . If we truely want change, it shouldnt be just a change of party, it has to be a change of culture . .
I'm sure the party is very proud of your ongoing attempts to deflect responsibility away from Fianna Fail, but most people will see through these feeble attempts.It was FG who were largely in -control of Local Government during the Celtic Tiger.
Zonings and planning permissions were given - to ghost estates and unwanted houses in the middle of no-where.
If someone else had been in power in recent years, then any comparisons with Greece would be irrelevant.
Yes, it's all Fianna Fail's fault... them and the bankers and developers... God forbid any of us accept responsibility for our own actions. Get rid of them and all will be well. They are our very own wicker man.I'm sure the party is very proud of your ongoing attempts to deflect responsibility away from Fianna Fail, but most people will see through these feeble attempts.
No, you just dont get it. You forget that the government is at fault for having us in this crisis to begin with. If someone else had been in power in recent years, then any comparisons with Greece would be irrelevant..
No, you just dont get it. You forget that the government is at fault for having us in this crisis to begin with. If someone else had been in power in recent years, then any comparisons with Greece would be irrelevant.
I think you are displaying classic victim of bullying denial behaviour. You know you are getting a raw deal, but your confidence has been damaged so much that you think that you dont deserve any better or that you cannot survive without the bully.
Believe me, we can do a lot better.
They may have wheezed on about fairness the odd time, particularly the self-serving double spread from Labour, but they never questioned if all that money should have been thrown around. Do you really think a government headed by a dunder-head like Enda Kenny and populated by smoked-salmon socialists, motivated by both resentment of the new rich who got their hands dirty for a living and their own upper middleclass angst and guilt, would have done anything differently? An FG with Alan Dukes and a Labour Party with Dick Spring and Ruairi Quinn (prior to the Democratic Left reverse takeover) may have been different but not that shower.
Am I the only person who regards cronyism, gombeenism and corruption as being wrong?
Am I the only person who regards cronyism, gombeenism and corruption as being wrong?
I think we are approaching a watershed moment where the dymanics of Irish politics changes forever. While its a FG/Lab government is a likely outcome of the next election, I think this will only be a temporary partnership for the term of the government. The election after the next will almost certainly be FG v Labour, with FF relegated to 3rd place. Civil war politics will finally be dead and we'll mirror what happens in most western democracies i.e. centre right v centre left as being the big parties battling for power in most elections.
With regard to a FG/Labour coalition government. I'm optimistic, that true to form, the champagne socialists will be more concerned about their mercs and perks than actually implementing policies, so their impact will be minimal. I'm not a fan of Enda Kenny - but remember that we've got Jukka Brother Cowen in charge right now - would be difficult for anyone to do worse and given such a poor impression of the country to overseas investors.