Brian Lenihan on Vincent Browne tonight

asdasd

I often wondered why people dont ask VB the searching questions. Why he isn't selling up his house and living amongst the multi-cultural delights of the inner city, or the Western suburbs ( if he thinks crime is such a "over-rated" issue) , or indeed amongst people who are not upper-middle class.

freedomdefender

Western civilization is a zoo. What we are witnessing with crime is the behaviour of a caged existence. This manifests itself in the form of aggression and desperate attempts to nullify the pain that such an existence brings. Our true nature is to be strong, healthy, happy and free. Humanity has been living a lie for thousands of years.

asdasd

Start a thread, and get out of this one.

freedomdefender

Don't try to impose rules; underlying this assumption is that humanity is inherently chaotic, disorganized and arbitrary which is simply not true. The very existence of this site is a betrayal of human nature itself.

ArmaniJeanss

the groutch wrote: »

I wish tho that they'd have Brian Cowan on the show, he did more damage as Minister for Finance, or better yet Charlie McCreevy, the true instigator

I thought it was 'accepted fact' that the reason McCreevy was sacked/moved was because he wanted to start a program of frugality back in 2003/04 (which may have just saved us from some of the current woes). But Bertie, and the ministers and backbenchers at the time ignored his advice and wanted to keep on spending.
So I think McCreevy is less culpable than many others?

asdasd

underlying this assumption is that humanity is inherently chaotic, disorganized and arbitrary which is simply not true.

Assuming that humanity is not inherently chaotic, disorganized and arbitrary, and that you are human, can you please stop wrecking this thread for the rest of us, GTFO, and start your own thread.

generalmiaow

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I thought it was 'accepted fact' that the reason McCreevy was sacked/moved was because he wanted to start a program of frugality back in 2003/04 (which may have just saved us from some of the current woes). But Bertie, and the ministers and backbenchers at the time ignored his advice and wanted to keep on spending.
So I think McCreevy is less culpable than many others?

This is why it would be worth having him on the show, if they want to delve into that sort of stuff. However, I doubt he would go on it, given his new job.

I'm a bit tired of the blaming stuff though, I suppose it's a distraction from the usual gloom and I know that every country in the world is showing this sort of stuff, but I'd like to see an interview ask a politician or strategist what they think the way out is, what we can do to help, and so on. I know that people are tired of ministers flying around in helicopters while the huddled masses queue for food and so on, but unless the only way forward is to punish the rich and powerful and/or discuss "had enough of that shower" stuff, it'd be nice to see something constructive without all the hot air.

I know it was the minster for finance and not enterprise trade and employment but not one question was asked about "what next?".

Red Alert

Why won't Lenihan just say out straight why he's letting the bankers and financial regulators off essentially scot free? He's just like his father before him - in bed with Banks and big business.

Sad Professor

Spudmonkey wrote: »

Vincent Browne was very eager to press Brian on hs wages, I'd like to know what Vinnie himself is on! If Pat Kenny is on ~900,000

A quarter of a million according to George Hook a few nights ago. But to be fair to Browne, he isn't a government minister paid by tax payers and he has said on many occasion that he considers himself one of the rich of society and that he doesn't pay nearly enough tax.

Anyway I thought it was a good interview. Lenihan held up well but I expected as much, he's barrister and knows how to dodge questions.

asdasd

Browne has more than one job, though. TV3, IT, SBP and his own vanity magazines. He could lose one. Or two.

In an egalitarian sense. Anyway the 250K is about the same as the Taoiseach

Spudmonkey

Sad Professor wrote: »

A quarter of a million according to George Hook a few nights ago. But to be fair to Browne, he isn't a government minister paid by tax payers and he has said on many occasion that he considers himself one of the rich of society and that he doesn't pay nearly enough tax.

Anyway I thought it was a good interview. Lenihan held up well but I expected as much, he's barrister and knows how to dodge questions.

I wonder has he given many donations away? Of the two of them, Brian has the far more important job. I suppose it just shows how society is scewed!

irish_bob

the groutch wrote: »

I wish tho that they'd have Brian Cowan on the show, he did more damage as Minister for Finance, or better yet Charlie McCreevy, the true instigator

surely you mean bertie aherne

ive alot more time for lennehan than cowen btw and while brownes interview might seem like a real grilling , in reality it was akin to some hysterical woman screaming for half an hour

vincent browne doesnt know enough about the dynamics of the economy to properly interview the fiance minister on the subject , the man is a walking cliche when it comes to the economy , BANKS , INEQUALITY , the usual banners

CorkFenian

People saying "Isn't lenihan great for going on the show" and that he looks to be coping fine with all the pressure...What pressure exactly??This guy is gold plated, on a lot of public sector monies, pension etc and the sooner people see that FF are looking after themselves the better...Whatever happens he will come out much better off than you or I..Fact!!Hes connected with the banking set, who will no doubt sort him out in the future as a sign of their gratitiude..
They broke the habit of the past 9 months by sending on one of the main men rather than Manseragh and his ilk...People feeling sorry for Lenihan are just having a laugh!! He's well able to defend himself..Guy is a qualified barrister..Doesnt mean hes any good and truthful as a Goverment Finance minister IMO...

Liam Byrne

I'm just wondering if "freedomdefender" IS Brian Lenihan - 3 contributions of something that he wanted to say even though it's completely irrelevant and off-topic.

Aside from those 3 inserts of irrelevant rubbish, the posts here are typical of what's wrong with Irish politics - wanting blood vs wanting the potential future leader to be able to bull**** and dodge and stonewall.

What about straight answers to straight questions ? What about actual fairness, regardless of what "an bord snip" suggests ? What about action, rather than bull****ting that "the IMF agree with us" (debatable, and even then that's like the Old & New Testament - before ye f**ked up and what ye've done since)

And when he brought up the newspaper front pages about the tribunals, I was waiting for VB to strike; when the cost was mentioned, BL was on about how that would never be spent again and how procedures were in place to avoid it.......what procedures ? And why didn't Browne hammer home that if Bertie & Haughey & Co didn't stall them, they wouldn't have taken so long ?

And can we trust alternative procedures from a party whose top brass [necks] have been at the forefront of said-same tribunals ?

Politics in this country is a complete joke - stonewall, obfuscate, f**k up knowing there's zero accountability, throw schoolboy snide remarks and insults at any constructive criticism, and apply misdirection whenever possible.

InvisibleBadger

I thought it was a good interview, funny in places.
I was hoping for less angry questions, and a bit more of the discussion that usually takes place on Vincent Browne.
Hopefully more members of the government will end up in front of Vincent!

Scofflaw

freedomdefender wrote: »

Don't try to impose rules; underlying this assumption is that humanity is inherently chaotic, disorganized and arbitrary which is simply not true. The very existence of this site is a betrayal of human nature itself.

Posters failing the Turing Test will be banned.

moderately,
Scofflaw

BlackWizard

A nicely timed article from Morgan Kelly then appears in the papers

Brought to our knees by bankers and developers - The Irish Times - Fri, Jul 03, 2009

1huge1

spadder wrote: »

I'm just in, missed it. Is it availble to watch online anywhere?

www.tv3.ie

paddyland

BlackWizard wrote: »

A nicely timed article from Morgan Kelly then appears in the papers

Brought to our knees by bankers and developers - The Irish Times - Fri, Jul 03, 2009

Can anyone spell out in plain english what happens if this country DOES go bankrupt? What happens to ordinary people?

Darragh29

I'm no fan of Lenihan or FF as you all know but I thought VB last night was made look like a complete whinger. He failed to really raise his fist never mind land a killer blow, just whinging and bitching like an auld wan who was just told she wasn't being let into the pub.

Spudmonkey

BlackWizard wrote: »

A nicely timed article from Morgan Kelly then appears in the papers

Brought to our knees by bankers and developers - The Irish Times - Fri, Jul 03, 2009

Jeez that makes for some very negative reading!!!

CorkFenian

Darragh29 wrote: »

I'm no fan of Lenihan or FF as you all know but I thought VB last night was made look like a complete whinger. He failed to really raise his fist never mind land a killer blow, just whinging and bitching like an auld wan who was just told she wasn't being let into the pub.

Far from it IMHO..Lenihan wouldnt answer any of his questions with a direct answer.What is an interviewer to do??.Its fair game after that...Lenihan should hang his head in shame after what he has done since being Minister for Finance...

enry

Darragh29 wrote: »

I'm no fan of Lenihan or FF as you all know but I thought VB last night was made look like a complete whinger. He failed to really raise his fist never mind land a killer blow, just whinging and bitching like an auld wan who was just told she wasn't being let into the pub.

VB asked the question I would have asked. For example what’s going to happen to those responsible for getting us into this mess through their fraudulent actions?

We as a people tacitly accepted everything the government has done and is doing and as a repercussion disserve everything we get from this economic meltdown. We are happy to accept that nobody is responsible for their actions or well maybe not happy but not angry enough to do anything about it. We allow this gov. to plod along

We as a country are a living joke in the eyes of the world and rightly so.

Well done VB for putting one of those ........ers under pressure

sovtek

CorkFenian wrote: »

Far from it IMHO..Lenihan wouldnt answer any of his questions with a direct answer.What is an interviewer to do??.Its fair game after that...Lenihan should hang his head in shame after what he has done since being Minister for Finance...

Has a lot to answer for as MOJ as well. Two year LTR and citizenship waiting lists and GNIB €150 fee

CorkFenian

CorkFenian wrote: »

Hes connected with the banking set, who will no doubt sort him out in the future as a sign of their gratitiude...

I think they've put the cheque in the post already. And lined up hookers and coke too, to show their thanks. Sure that's the way the whole system works. It's a conspiracy maaaaan.

paddyland

Deleted User wrote: »

I think they've put the cheque in the post already. And lined up hookers and coke too, to show their thanks. Sure that's the way the whole system works. It's a conspiracy maaaaan.

It might be all a big joke to you, but some of us are destitute because of these people. And I mean absolutely destitute. I am out of work since last Christmas, and have had no wages and no dole in all that time. Six months with zero income.

Yeah, maaaaan, I think it's all a big joke, too. But not in the way you do.

Sand

I thought VB was dissapointing.

He had a good opportunity to take Lenihan on, but he wasnt at the races at all. Lenihan dealt comfortably with everything VB threw at him. Ironically, despite VB claiming Lenihan didnt know what he was doing, it was VB who seemed uninformed and unable to connect the dots to make a killer point. I think VB was shown up for not having the economic knowledge to actually do more than flail away uselessly whinging about "greedy bankers...big pensions...you dont know what youre doing!". Lenihan easily dealt with him.

Which is shocking, because the governments position is full of holes. They ought to have got VB a wingman for this debate, but I assume if Lenihan thought he might go up against someone who knew what they were talking about he would never agree to show.

Can anyone spell out in plain english what happens if this country DOES go bankrupt? What happens to ordinary people?

Ireland wont be allowed to go bankrupt. Germany and the EU will not permit the Euro to be undermined by a memberstate going bankrupt. What will happen is that either the ECB or IMF will arrive with emergency funding and a list of fiscal demands for that funding to be provided: you will see public sector numbers and pay cut in huge amounts ( 30-40%), similar cuts in social welfare, wholesale closure of any expenditure that is not absolutely totally vital.

Effectively, Irish fiscal policy will be determined by the ECB or IMF as they will be the ones providing the funds. What the unions or the Irish voters think will be irrelevant because the alternative will be bankruptcy.

In someways, an IMF/ECB intervention could be a good thing - the establishment will be effectively destroyed in Ireland. Hopefully leaving room for a proper civic society to emerge from the ashes.

TL;DR answer - the United Nations will send in troops to ransack and loot Irish peoples houses of DVDs and LCD screens until they consider the debts settled.

CorkFenian

Deleted User wrote: »

I think they've put the cheque in the post already. And lined up hookers and coke too, to show their thanks. Sure that's the way the whole system works. It's a conspiracy maaaaan.

Nice one...Keep on taking the tablets maaaan!! Very constructive post there!! How naive are you??? lol

Mario007

Sand wrote: »

Effectively, Irish fiscal policy will be determined by the ECB or IMF as they will be the ones providing the funds. What the unions or the Irish voters think will be irrelevant because the alternative will be bankruptcy.

In someways, an IMF/ECB intervention could be a good thing - the establishment will be effectively destroyed in Ireland. Hopefully leaving room for a proper civic society to emerge from the ashes.

yeah it seems even a good option to go bankrupt, to be honest. look at iceland, they crashed, big time, got the IMF to fund them and change their fiscal policy and now the country is up and running properly.

paddyland wrote: »

It might be all a big joke to you, but some of us are destitute because of these people. And I mean absolutely destitute. I am out of work since last Christmas, and have had no wages and no dole in all that time. Six months with zero income.

Yeah, maaaaan, I think it's all a big joke, too. But not in the way you do.

i think he meant that many people these days create such conspiracies as to who's to blame for this, and why is the goverment doing what its doing, that its just getting ridiculous. for example the whole lenihan is being paid by bankers stuff is an example of such a ridiculous theory.

CorkFenian wrote: »

Far from it IMHO..Lenihan wouldnt answer any of his questions with a direct answer.What is an interviewer to do??.Its fair game after that...Lenihan should hang his head in shame after what he has done since being Minister for Finance...

and what did he exactly do as the minister for finance that should bring about shame? he got inot the situation with the recession raging, with big hole in the public finances and an awful banking situation...so he has to take steps to fix this, i know they are harsh, but they need to be taken nonetheless

CorkFenian

Mario007 wrote: »

yeah it seems even a good option to go bankrupt, to be honest. look at iceland, they crashed, big time, got the IMF to fund them and change their fiscal policy and now the country is up and running properly.



i think he meant that many people these days create such conspiracies as to who's to blame for this, and why is the goverment doing what its doing, that its just getting ridiculous. for example the whole lenihan is being paid by bankers stuff is an example of such a ridiculous theory.



and what did he exactly do as the minister for finance that should bring about shame? he got inot the situation with the recession raging, with big hole in the public finances and an awful banking situation...so he has to take steps to fix this, i know they are harsh, but they need to be taken nonetheless

I said "Hes connected with the banking set, who will no doubt sort him out in the future as a sign of their gratitiude.."...Where is the conspiracy in that? Are you trying to say that it hasnt happened that way with prominent Fianna Failers before???FFS..If you are , you're being extremely naive IMHO

The trouble with Lenihan and FF is that they give all kinds of excuses,excuses and more excuses.FF have been in power since 1997 end of story. I don't need for Brian Lenihan to make sly subtle discretionary statements regarding his own involvement in the front bench of goverment or lack of up to a few years ago etc..FF are there and must take the blame just like it was so easy for them to take the credit over the years...Regularly I have to hear FF front and back benchers talk like they are in opposition..Its sickening
TBH..Where is your problem with that?

Regarding your last point that hes taken the right decisions..Very very few people besides hardline Fianna Failers would agree with you...