time for a new leader again

leitrim lad

agreed or maybe even pat o kieffe if mc creevy isnt available

Sand

remind me again how long poor innocent Cowen was Minister for Finance again??

<Edit - just noticed you said Cowen, though it was McCreevy - I blame Fianna Fail. Anyway the below makes sense when He=McCreevy. I dont support Cowen, I dont think hes innocent at all>

He got pushed out in 2004, his last budget was put in place in 2003 when the housing bubble was but a glint in Berties eye. If you want to see where the out of control spending came from, check out the increase in spending that Cowen presided over in his first budget on December 1st 2004: a increase on spending of 9%, when spending had already increased significantly from 1997 ( based on the export driven economic growth of that period, which tapered off after 2000). And thats before you even consider the budgets Cowen delivered in 2005, 2006 and 2007 with the last being perhaps the most reckless and blind of all given it was delivered purely to win an election, and wilfully ignored all the warning lights on the Irish economy going amber and red.

McCreevy was a very competent Minister for Finance. He was never popular with the chattering classes given his abrasive style and robust defence of the successful low tax, controlled spending model, but blaming him for the excess of the Cowen and Bertie years is a bit much. He was shafted because he wouldnt play along with Berties spend, spend, spend policies.

Whilst McCreevy leading Fianna Fail would be far better placed to get out of the electoral hole Bertie & Cowen have led them into (Brian Lenihan didnt lay the groundwork for this mess, he's just inept at trying to get us out of it), its extremely unlikely. Fianna Fail is the party of the cute hoor, the conniving gombeen man and the person who holds to the creed of taxes being for little people. McCreevy just isnt that popular with the Fianna Fail grassroots - indeed he was viewed as an electoral liability back in 2004. Even if he was invited back in some sort of prodigal son type reunion to lead Fianna Fail back to the promised land it would only be a marraige of convenience and hed be stabbed in the back and left for dead as soon as they could get another cute hoor like Bertie in power to screw everything up.

Charlie Haughey really destroyed Fianna Fail, now all it has is a culture of shared greed and lust for power binding it together. Honesty, patriotism and integrity? In Fianna Fail thats a disqualification from leadership. Theyre going to rot in opposition for a decade or more until they rediscover more reason to exist than to win the next election.

<Edit2 - I was editing this post a few times, adding points and expanding them like I usually do. I noticed leitrim lad added thanks on an early draft, but has removed them after reading the final draft: I guess the post below about some sense being talked might be qualified now >

leitrim lad

at long last some sense talked , charlie mc creevy will make a great taoiseach

storker

leitrim lad wrote: »

well im one of the boys and im also one of charlies best friends, i think he would be a great leader another bertie

I would say that the last thing FF needs is another Bertie. Except for those FF members who are feeble-minded enough to want to repeat the whole cycle, in which case another Bertie would be just the job!

Stork

storker

leitrim lad wrote: »

your wrong bertie was the best modern leader this country will ever see, and along with that you wouldnt have a pot to piss in if it wasnt for him,

We don't have a pot to piss in - and it is thanks to Bertie.

Stork

Sleipnir

McCreevy was only interested in keeping his racing buddies happy. About a year ago one of his E.U colleagues left a doll or something in his seat because he never showed up cos he wanted to go to Cheltenham (but got paid to, obviously)
Let's see what else he's done...

-boosted public spending by 48pc while cutting income tax in 2003

-Regarding Lisbon, said that no "sane person" would read the document and came to Ireland to tell people that he had not read the treaty and tells people "there is no need to read it."
"Trust me, just vote yes"!

- Wanted the hedge fund industry to be "self-regulated" !

He's a complete ganster.


If you blame the developers and bankers and say it was their fault and not Bertie's, how could he not be incompetant then? All Bertie did was spend the money.

Willie O'Dea? I dunno, I can't look at him without thinking of Groucho Marx.

Cooper-Flynn? Bloody Hell, if she was ever the leader of the country I'd just burn my house down.

Sand

-boosted public spending by 48pc while cutting income tax in 2003

Given the massive growth between 1997 and 2003, that wasnt unjustified. The spending increases were based on real economic growth. Spending increases on Cowens budget were based on the property bubble.

-Regarding Lisbon, said that no "sane person" would read the document and came to Ireland to tell people that he had not read the treaty and tells people "there is no need to read it."
"Trust me, just vote yes"!

He was probably right on both counts. The treaty was drawn up by lawyers. Theyre not known for being concise and to the point. Lets face it, the no side who derided this "he didnt even read it!!!" thing came up with such nonsense about conscription, abortion and so on that it was blatantly obvious they hadnt even seen a copy of the treaty, let alone read it.

- Wanted the hedge fund industry to be "self-regulated" !

Hedge funds arent to blame for our fiscal crisis. Whilst they can and do take huge short positions on corporations and even states, thats only in response to the perceived weakness of those corporation or states. If they were running their own shop correctly, then theres no issue. Lets say you take short positions on Irish banking stocks back when they are still worth more than 1 cent. Its a bet, but it doesnt have any impact on if Irish banking stocks are hugely overvalued because Irish banks have completely mismanaged their risk and lent out billions recklessly with no oversight.

Also, hedge funds ( under Irish law at least) are marketed to "professional investors": theyre not for joe soaps like yourself and myself ( UCITS for us). The investors behind them are assumed to have the knowledge and risk management capabilities to look out for themselves. And its banks that are being bailed out by the tax payer, not hedge funds. Irish non UCITS are basically very lightly regulated: insofar as that Irish law allows for the regulations that do exist to be disapplied by the fund, so long as that is made clear to the investors.

Though, my own advice would be never to give your money to a fund of any sort. Management fees, performance fees and so on are ridiculous. The managers can be complete morons ( some of them are amateur hour) and those who are supposed to be looking out for the interests of shareholders are actually hired and paid by the fund. So theres a conflict of interest right there.

leitrim lad

and what about poor ould PAT O KIEFFE will we give him a twist before he retires, maybe then charlie will be back from europe ready to run the country and clean up biffos mess

population

leitrim lad wrote: »

and what about poor ould PAT O KIEFFE will we give him a twist before he retires, maybe then charlie will be back from europe ready to run the country and clean up biffos mess

Ok. I am fairly sure this thread is a wind up.

However on the off chance that it is not....

Leitrim Lad: Please stand in front of a mirror and take a long hard look. What you see in the reflection is the problem with this country.

I hope that answers any qs you may ever have about this country ever again

leitrim lad

no its not a wind up

the two brians and mary c have to go ,so who will replace them

thebigcheese22

leitrim lad wrote: »

no its not a wind up

the two brians and mary c have to go ,so who will replace them

Eamonn Gilmore, Joan Burton, Ruari Quinn, hell even Richard Bruton... competent politicians. This is what Fianna Fail lacks, as well as courage, and admirable principles.

population

leitrim lad wrote: »

agreed or maybe even pat o kieffe if mc creevy isnt available

Who the hell is 'pat o' kieffe'?????

dresden8

Could you not have convinced Biffo to eff off when you got him to agree to sack the public service?

Dr Galen

this has to be a wind up?

Bertie as the greatest leader we've had? Calls for Willie O'Dea for top job? Seriously guys drunk posting is always gonna turn out this bad

leitrim lad

i dont touch a drink mistik monkey

PAT O KIEFFE is minister for education,

biffo wont leave until we have a leader in place that he thinks in fit for the job, in his eyes going forward

brutal, gilmore,burton,and quinn wouldnt run a tap let alone the country,

if you sent the 4 of them to the lake for water they would come back and tell you there was none ,and you want them on the front line

berween the 4 of them they couldnt count to 10 let alone run a country

Soldie

leitrim lad wrote: »

PAT O KIEFFE is minister for education,

No, Batt O'Keeffe is the incumbent Minister for Education and Science. Didn't you say you were a Fianna Fáil member?

Fr0g

If anyone thinks that a change of leadership would make any difference in FF please look here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055537800

Dr Galen

from reports today it seems like Brian Cowan also has issues with counting, or more specifically investments. At least we know he was as gullible as the rest of the people caught up in the property bubble. Bit scary though when he has the keys to the safe tho.

leitrim lad

yes but theres no need to briad cast his personal details to the nation ,
what necxt how many times a day he goes to the toilet

Dr Galen

well to a point yes there is a need. Certainly things like his family life etc should be treated with respect. But other aspects of his life, particularly with regard to business dealing are very much in the public domain. It's called transparency, and how we maintain a check and balance system on our public officials.

Hagar

There is nothing personal about the financial affairs of The Taoiseach.
We know how much we pay him, don't we? It would be interesting to see how far he can stretch it. Maybe there would be some useful tips for the recently unemployed on how to stretch their SW payments.

gandalf

Mystik Monkey wrote: »

from reports today it seems like Brian Cowan also has issues with counting, or more specifically investments. At least we know he was as gullible as the rest of the people caught up in the property bubble. Bit scary though when he has the keys to the safe tho.

Well he is a step up from his predecessors. At least he has a bank account.

Woger

leitrim lad wrote: »

i dont touch a drink mistik monkey

PAT O KIEFFE is minister for education,

biffo wont leave until we have a leader in place that he thinks in fit for the job, in his eyes going forward

brutal, gilmore,burton,and quinn wouldnt run a tap let alone the country,

if you sent the 4 of them to the lake for water they would come back and tell you there was none ,and you want them on the front line

berween the 4 of them they couldnt count to 10 let alone run a country

Thanks for that ctitique. It's good to hear balanced news from someone in a position that knows what they're talking about.

maxwell smart

Not only is it time for a new leader, I would say it is time for a completly new party which holds the best interests of the people of this country as its core principle. A party which is by the people and fo he people. It is infact "no less than a patriotic call to arms!" (Copyright B.Lenihan)

jmayo

miju wrote: »

remind me again how long poor innocent Cowen was Minister for Finance again??

Too long for the country but long enough for the develoeprs and bankers :rolleyes:

population wrote: »

Ok. I am fairly sure this thread is a wind up.

However on the off chance that it is not....

Leitrim Lad: Please stand in front of a mirror and take a long hard look. What you see in the reflection is the problem with this country.

I hope that answers any qs you may ever have about this country ever again

Just heard on news that there is a village in Leitrim minus it's idiot.
Nationwide hunt has been narrowed down to Kildare region.

PS McCreevey would be the one who couldn't be bothered reading the Lisbon Treaty and who believes in lax financial regulation.

EastWallGirl

I want a benevolent dictatorship of McWilliams and Hobbs.

Dr Galen

EastWallGirl wrote: »

I want a benevolent dictatorship of McWilliams and Hobbs.

oh good God no!

Pseudo intellectual economic posturing at its worst.

leitrim lad

east wall girl i think you have something there

thats actually a good post and a brilliant idea

leitrim lad

just off the phone to dermot of the ahearns

he was a bit upset that his name hasnt been mentioned as of yet, but he doesnt want the hassle,

he said when he is finished with the justice role he wants the enviorment ministry , and a new bicycle

deadhead13

leitrim lad wrote: »

he said when he is finished with the justice role he wants the enviorment ministry , and a new bicycle

With the ministerial car and Garda driver following closely behind, of course. Or will the Garda be the one riding the bike.