Robert Moore
Registered User
- Messages
- 37
Must start with the claim that I do not have a holiday home anywhere. Yes I would love to have an escape in Killarney, Connemara, the sunny South East, Achill et al but I don’t. I don’t have access to anyone else's holiday home either.
However, I do find this present villification of holiday home owners a bit over the top. Yes, I know thew anecdotal evidence from Italy with regard to travelling from one area to another but universal condemnation from the likes of RTE/Pravda (who, lets face it, haven’t criticized any government since Bertie - allegedly - bitch slapped Cathal Goan on the phone during the Beverly Cooper Flynn caper) is not balanced. Furthermore comments such as these people “spitting on the nation” are also a bit weird.
IF the government was serious about removing travelling to holiday areas, would they not have ordered the shut down of hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses et al (enforceable by the gardai) in these areas? For desk research purposes yesterday, I looked at what accommodation was available in several popular areas (Killarney, Galway etc). There were stlll hotels, etc taking bookings. And HOSTELS offering dormitory beds. Social distancing wha??? Yet the holiday home owners were still the pariah of this tragedy.
Now far be it for me to suggest that the paid accommodation venues were a source of money for the government - taxes on stays, food, drink. The opportunity cost of not paying hotel employees social welfare. Contrast that to the holiday home. No immediate revenue for the government.
There’s something a bit “French Revolution” about targeting the holiday home crew. Maybe this taps into a latent begrudging gene. Surely politicians could not be talking out of both sides of their mouths simultaneously when “we’re all in this together”?
However, I do find this present villification of holiday home owners a bit over the top. Yes, I know thew anecdotal evidence from Italy with regard to travelling from one area to another but universal condemnation from the likes of RTE/Pravda (who, lets face it, haven’t criticized any government since Bertie - allegedly - bitch slapped Cathal Goan on the phone during the Beverly Cooper Flynn caper) is not balanced. Furthermore comments such as these people “spitting on the nation” are also a bit weird.
IF the government was serious about removing travelling to holiday areas, would they not have ordered the shut down of hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses et al (enforceable by the gardai) in these areas? For desk research purposes yesterday, I looked at what accommodation was available in several popular areas (Killarney, Galway etc). There were stlll hotels, etc taking bookings. And HOSTELS offering dormitory beds. Social distancing wha??? Yet the holiday home owners were still the pariah of this tragedy.
Now far be it for me to suggest that the paid accommodation venues were a source of money for the government - taxes on stays, food, drink. The opportunity cost of not paying hotel employees social welfare. Contrast that to the holiday home. No immediate revenue for the government.
There’s something a bit “French Revolution” about targeting the holiday home crew. Maybe this taps into a latent begrudging gene. Surely politicians could not be talking out of both sides of their mouths simultaneously when “we’re all in this together”?