If rejoining the UK meant jobs and an end to austerity, would you?

walrusgumble

Show Time wrote: »

Bottom line over the last ninety years the country has lurched from one crisis to another like some punch drunk student on a Thursday night and the people have time after time elected idiots who know bugger all about running a nation.

Going back to Great Britain with the tail between the legs might gall some people but if it helped get the country back on it's feet without having to send the best and the brightest away to earn a living than so be it.

Considering what Irish government inherited in 1922, ie feck all even without civil war, and what it achieved in 90 or so years we have done alright. Every country has its problems and crisis. Even Britain saw the IMF in the past

Time and time again west brits don't seem to be able to comprehend there will never be a day when Ireland returns to Britain or indeed any country. Families have sacrificed far too much for that. Ireland does not need spineless wimps like you. Take the boat and clear off.

Since your kind failed to to cop on after the waffle Kenny said about Europe and jobs, sadly the message clearly has not being learnt. The only way out of this problem is by doing things ourself. Europe ain going to do it for us either, and neither will Britain.

Red Pepper

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

My history teacher used to say that studying history is very interesting and even helps predict the future (cause and effect) but he always said we should "never live in the past". He reckoned that people that live in the past are generally bitter. I agree.

walrusgumble

Red Pepper wrote: »

My history teacher used to say that studying history is very interesting and even helps predict the future (cause and effect) but he always said we should "never live in the past". He reckoned that people that live in the past are generally bitter. I agree.

The only history discussion being raised is primarily by some posters in favour of returning to the UK ( and as usual never being capable of explaining with any conviction of the good reasons for doing so bar vague horse manure) even the creator of the thread raised it. A simple "no" in the poll would have sufficed instead of the disingenuous and utter simplictic comment that followed.

Those in favour of joining immediately then refer to "history" with such uneducated ill informed stupidity that you probably would not get from a 15 year old. Utter ignorance of history. Other poster are entitled to point these stupid comments out . Eg we were equally part of the empire without any coercion, the greatest empire, loans from Britain akin to gifts, British companies buying out Irish companies as if it was charity and how we should be grateful, morons comparing Ireland with northen England, utter idiots questioning whether Ireland is a country and swingers thinking by adopting culture points that are no longer exclusively British somehow makes you British. It has been pointed out by many posters that the objection is to joining any country, not just Britain and people demand of our sovereignty back.


This thread is the tried and tested lets us join Britain or commonwealth regularly dished out by so called Irish people who clearly have not got the hint. This is a novel way of doing it. We don't want it and majority even th anti ra heads don't want it. It is always the small minority .We don't suffer from the same identity problems as them. People who create such threads should move on or get out of Ireland if they feel that way inclined.

You talk about history, and history often repeats itself. Look at th title of.the thread , join UK For jobs. Where Have we heard that before? Sadly some people aint paying attention.

jugger0

Show Time wrote: »

They also did a good job in killing terrorist scum up North who would have unleashed mayhem South of the boarder if they had got half the chance.

Terrorists... up north Irish people were killed by unionist mobs, burned alive in their homes,refused jobs and houses, the police service joined in on the terror as did the British Army who shot dead civil rights protesters and lied about it, they also colluded with loyalist gangs to kill Irish people, what would you do in the situation?

Also around 300 provos died during the troubles compared with over 1000 British soldiers and RUC men, good job my eye.

DonLimon

Poll my arse, that's a loaded question if ever I saw one.

sunflower27

Yeah, the political system here is so corrupt.... I think it is time to face facts. It is not going to be an easy overhaul. Time to let someone else sort out the mess.

Japer

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

The UK are still helping us economically, and have done so throughout history.
Most of out infrastructure was built by the British ( railways, harbours, notable architecture, legal system, universities, lighthouses, canals etc ). In the 20th century it absorbed millions of our emigrants and gave them jobs, and many of them sent money home. It protected us during WW2 and the cold war. In the past 4 decades we beneffitted massively from all the EEC / EC funds to improve our roads, EC subsidies and handouts etc .....and the UK was the 2nd biggest cointributer to the EEC / EC after Germany. Now the UK is bailing us out, along with the IMF. If we rejoined the UK of course we would not have such corruption in this country. The British isles would have better economies of scale. We are - and have proven to be - not capable of governing ourselves.
n.b it would not make sense for the south island of New Zealand to seek independence from the North island either. Or for the Japanese islands to split up. Or the Canary islands.

jugger0

Japer wrote: »

The UK are still helping us economically, and have done so throughout history.
Most of out infrastructure was built by the British ( railways, harbours, notable architecture, legal system, universities, lighthouses, canals etc ). In the 20th century it absorbed millions of our emigrants and gave them jobs, and many of them sent money home. It protected us during WW2 and the cold war. In the past 4 decades we beneffitted massively from all the EEC / EC funds to improve our roads, EC subsidies and handouts etc .....and the UK was the 2nd biggest cointributer to the EEC / EC after Germany. Now the UK is bailing us out, along with the IMF. If we rejoined the UK of course we would not have such corruption in this country. The British isles would have better economies of scale. We are - and have proven to be - not capable of governing ourselves.
n.b it would not make sense for the south island of New Zealand to seek independence from the North island either. Or for the Japanese islands to split up. Or the Canary islands.

I dont even... The infrastructure you talk about was built for the use of the British, they were here for 800 years terrorizing the place, they needed decent railways and bridges so they could transport their soldiers around from one war crime to the next. They didnt protect us during WW2, in fact they tried to bully us and threatened to invade us... again. Also you left out the part where they gave us some soup during the famine, they left it a bit late in fairness and you had to change your religion to save yourself from dying but other then that weren't they lovely lads altogether? Honestly any benefits we get off them will never erase the heinous things they done in this country up until very very recently, they treated us like ****, viewed us as subhumans, killed us in droves... You're like a wife who gets a hiding off her husband for letting the dinner go cold but still loves him.. would ya wake up.

WanabeOlympian

Seeing as France is just as near to the UK and has a more successful economy, health service and education system than the UK then maybe the UK should join the Republic of France. Vive la République de France et d'Angleterre ;-)

On a more serious note our values are different. We are a neutral and peace keeping country.

I wouldn't want to be associated with an aggressive military who invades countries against the will of the United Nations.

Geographical proximity does not mean we are the same as you can know. Denmark borders Sweden but the danes, as a small nation like Ireland do not wish to be part of Sweden despite their common linguistic and cultural similarities. Why would we? Hmm... makes you think, right?

Japer wrote: »

The UK are still helping us economically, and have done so throughout history.
Most of out infrastructure was built by the British ( railways, harbours, notable architecture, legal system, universities, lighthouses, canals etc ). In the 20th century it absorbed millions of our emigrants and gave them jobs, and many of them sent money home. It protected us during WW2 and the cold war. In the past 4 decades we beneffitted massively from all the EEC / EC funds to improve our roads, EC subsidies and handouts etc .....and the UK was the 2nd biggest cointributer to the EEC / EC after Germany. Now the UK is bailing us out, along with the IMF. If we rejoined the UK of course we would not have such corruption in this country. The British isles would have better economies of scale. We are - and have proven to be - not capable of governing ourselves.
n.b it would not make sense for the south island of New Zealand to seek independence from the North island either. Or for the Japanese islands to split up. Or the Canary islands.

Japer

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

Japer wrote: »

The British isles would have better economies of scale. We are - and have proven to be - not capable of governing ourselves.
n.b it would not make sense for the south island of New Zealand to seek independence from the North island either. Or for the Japanese islands to split up. Or the Canary islands.

You've hit on a key point there, one of the problems with this country, is too much government! By that I mean that there are too many councils, far too much bureaucracy.

A smaller public service (by this I mean fewer managers, not less staff actually doing the work) would make significant improvements in the efficiency of government.

This could be easily achieved by merging the services of several small (by population) rural councils into one regional council, for example Connacht regional council could service the west of Ireland. There are hundreds of other examples..

But it can't be too big either, the EU being a classic example of far too many layers of government.

BoDiddly

haulagebasher wrote: »

Firstly, I know the UK has it's own real bugetary difficulties but this is a purely hypothetically, IF.....thread

So basically if the republic were to rejoin the UK (while retaining a national parliment) would result in good jobs with good availibility and an end to austerity and cuts, woudl you be up for it?

Or would you be one of the "rather die on my feet..........." rabbler brigade like was on Niall Boylan @night a few weeks ago.

What makes you believe that the UK would want Eire to be part of that set up, in the first place ?

indioblack

BoDiddly wrote: »

What makes you believe that the UK would want Eire to be part of that set up, in the first place ?

Come back to the mother country - you know you want to.
Anybody would think we had upset you in the past.
Look on the bright side - we get Jedward as UK citizens - should make up for 800 years.
As it is now, you moan about the ills of the past and the British take no notice.
Join the UK and you can still moan about the past..........and they still won't take any notice.
Seroiusly, you have a seperate, independant country - and I'd say most people there are content to keep it that way.

Sound of Silence

sunflower27 wrote: »

Yeah, the political system here is so corrupt.... I think it is time to face facts. It is not going to be an easy overhaul. Time to let someone else sort out the mess.

Sums up Unionists pretty well, both North and South.

This thread is an aboslute joke. It's litearlly packed to the rafters with people who simply cannot fathom that rejoining the Union would never have a positive effect on the Irish State.

Hell, we've got a working example of an Irish Union just North of the Border! It's effectively a failed State, subsidised to the hilt and with no prospects for change. This is something even the British Government acknowledge and actively bemoan.

If They have no idea what to do with it, what honestly makes you think that they will be able to make any meaningful changes South of the Border?

James Longstreet.

Sound of Silence wrote: »

Sums up Unionists pretty well, both North and South.

This thread is an aboslute joke. It's litearlly packed to the rafters with people who simply cannot fathom that rejoining the Union would never have a positive effect on the Irish State.

Hell, we've got a working example of an Irish Union just North of the Border! It's effectively a failed State, subsidised to the hilt and with no prospects for change. This is something even the British Government acknowledge and actively bemoan.

If They have no idea what to do with it, what honestly makes you think that they will be able to make any meaningful changes South of the Border?

At least it isn't controlled by a paedophile religion. And controlled by corrupt politicians like you have in Dublin. The terrorist thing is being worked on. No doubt Sinn Fein will be civilized sooner or later.

Freedom for the Irish Atheists in the corrupt and Catholic controlled Irish Republic will come.

Witcher

James Longstreet. wrote: »

At least it isn't controlled by a paedophile religion. And controlled by corrupt politicians like you have in Dublin. The terrorist thing is being worked on. No doubt Sinn Fein will be civilized sooner or later.

Freedom for the Irish Atheists in the corrupt and Catholic controlled Irish Republic will come.

The embittered northerners have arrived..later than usual too:pac:

Duckworth_Luas

James Longstreet. wrote: »

At least it isn't controlled by a paedophile religion. And controlled by corrupt politicians like you have in Dublin. The terrorist thing is being worked on. No doubt Sinn Fein will be civilized sooner or later.

Freedom for the Irish Atheists in the corrupt and Catholic controlled Irish Republic will come.

Ban hammer in 3, 2, 1......

James Longstreet.

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

Ban hammer in 3, 2, 1......

The truth can't be put down my friend. Which is why so many people said yes because they can see the corruption in the Irish Republic and want to get out of the place. Not to mention the high position of the Catholic Church and its say in society. Freedom for the Irish Atheists.

Witcher

James Longstreet. wrote: »

The truth can't be put down my friend. Which is why so many people said yes because they can see the corruption in the Irish Republic and want to get out of the place. Not to mention the high position of the Catholic Church and its say in society. Freedom for the Irish Atheists.

Are you living in the 60's? The CC have zero influence down here now. How do you like your sham government with a Unionist terrorist at the helm?

Duckworth_Luas

James Longstreet. wrote: »

The truth can't be put down my friend.

I thought the mods had put you down long ago?;)

Mal-Adjusted

James Longstreet. wrote: »

At least it isn't controlled by a paedophile religion.

James Longstreet. wrote: »

And controlled by corrupt politicians like you have in Dublin.

feck sake man, how do you expect to be taken seriously when you can't even make up your mind :rolleyes:

Steodonn

I'd be completely in favor of joining in with the UK if the North was returned and United Ireland was entered into the union as an equal partner and they got rid of the monarch. She could still be Queen of England Scotland and Walses if she wanted. And I wouldnnt want this new union to be part of NATO but its not a deal breaker

Steodonn

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

Steodonn wrote: »

I'd be completely in favor of joining in with the UK if the North was returned and United Ireland was entered into the union as an equal partner and they got rid of the monarch. She could still be Queen of England Scotland and Walses if she wanted. And I wouldnnt want this new union to be part of NATO but its not a deal breaker

A Pick-n-mix union! :pac:

BlatentCheek

I didn't vote in the poll because the wording of the poll made it a choice between wanting to join the UK or being a semi-literate idiot. I also find it a little silly to assume that we could just rejoin the UK whenever we feel like it, as if the Brits have spent the intervening 90 years crying into their icecream while watching the Mamma Mia DVD and waiting hopefully for our knock on the door. The British gave up their dreams of Empire a long time ago and could be forgiven a certain reluctance at absorbing a bankrupt state with a quite different culture of civic and national responsibility. I also resent the theme in this thread that we're all a bunch of idiots in Ireland that can't form a piss-up in a brewery. We have huge problems in Ireland but so do most countries in the world and compared to most other nations that achieved their independence from the British Empire in the 20th century we're doing quite well: no military coups, crime rates under control (just), good education standards (that are being eroded) and decent healthcare (by global standards). Certainly by Western European standards our performance on a lot of social and economic indicators has been poor but so too has that of the peripheral parts of the UK that Ireland as a part of it could be expected to mirror: think Glasgow, Swansea or Derry.

Sound of Silence

James Longstreet. wrote: »

At least it isn't controlled by a paedophile religion. And controlled by corrupt politicians like you have in Dublin. The terrorist thing is being worked on. No doubt Sinn Fein will be civilized sooner or later.

Freedom for the Irish Atheists in the corrupt and Catholic controlled Irish Republic will come.

Keith, I happen to actually be from the North.

Freedom for the Irish Atheists? I'm sure you're aware that the Irish President, of all people, actually happens to be an Atheist.

Unionists on the other hand seem less drawn to a disparity of views, having voted for a Presbyterian Minister and a Biblical Literalist into the position of First Minister. You can't deny that the Orange Order, which Loyalists argue is a wholly Religous Organisation, also happens to have an iron grip on the Unionist Political sphere, with the vast majority of Unionist Politicians being deeply involved in the Organisation.

Are you really trying to argue that Northern Ireland is a bastion of religious secularism?

Chuck Stone

James Longstreet. wrote: »

herp de derp

The people who surround you are liars KeithAFC you horrible little boy. You just can't stay away can you?

Celly Smunt

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

fetch me my sash son,i have money to dig.

Red Pepper

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

Blay wrote: »

Are you living in the 60's? The CC have zero influence down here now.

Zero? Really? Then why are the majority of parents still putting their children through baptism, communion etc?

Madam

Red Pepper wrote: »

Zero? Really? Then why are the majority of parents still putting their children through baptism, communion etc?

I'd say its more to do with tribalism than actual religion.

Witcher

Red Pepper wrote: »

Zero? Really? Then why are the majority of parents still putting their children through baptism, communion etc?

For the majority, because it's the 'done thing' and they don't want their child singled out...it's not for any religious reason or because the church demand it.

Sound of Silence

Red Pepper wrote: »

Zero? Really? Then why are the majority of parents still putting their children through baptism, communion etc?

Because ultimately no one wants to disrupt what's considered to be expected.

If that's what's considered control in the Republic then you may count your blessings! I can assure you that the vast majority of those people never return to Church after that point.

I recall seeing a figure which indicated that only 45%* of the Irish Republic would describe themselves as Religious. This was not question delivered solely to Catholics, but rather to the general public. There's no denying that Ireland is slowly becoming a secular Country.

Celly Smunt

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

i love how these threads always end up being about religion.

unimpressed

just plain dum tread

Celly Smunt

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

unimpressed wrote: »

just plain dum tread

lawl

walrusgumble

sunflower27 wrote: »

Yeah, the political system here is so corrupt.... I think it is time to face facts. It is not going to be an easy overhaul. Time to let someone else sort out the mess.

The reason that is in such a mess is because people like you left it to them to create this mess. Instead of calling for their heads, people like you simply re-elected them, Lowry, Aherne, o Donohue (not corruption but over spending) and god knows how many local councillors. Why? He fixed the road and got mammy the medical card. ( you as in people who have the attitude that you have highlighted)

Time to cop on folks, time to actually grow a spine and take responsibility for ourselves

For those who got caught up in debt during the boom. Still this self serving horse manure that the banks are to be blamed for absolutely everything, you are just as much in fault For taking money that you had no chance of repaying and for living life styles that your not manageable. No boom ever lasts . What did people do with their ISSA funds? Bloody spent it on luxury items an holidays( not everyone of course)

Time to demand more out ourselves first.take responsibilities for our own actions like any other mature country

walrusgumble

Sound of Silence wrote: »

Red Pepper wrote: »

Zero? Really? Then why are the majority of parents still putting their children through baptism, communion etc?

Because ultimately no one wants to disrupt what's considered to be expected.

If that's what's considered control in the Republic then you may count your blessings! I can assure you that the vast majority of those people never return to Church after that point.

I recall seeing a figure which indicated that only 45%* of the Irish Republic would describe themselves as Religious. This was not question delivered solely to Catholics, but rather to the general public. There's no denying that Ireland is slowly becoming a secular Country.

What has this got to do with the economy?

walrusgumble

Red Pepper wrote: »

Blay wrote: »

Are you living in the 60's? The CC have zero influence down here now.

Zero? Really? Then why are the majority of parents still putting their children through baptism, communion etc?

Las time I checked, we have divorce ( inlimited fashion and just about got in) more people starting families outside of marriage, condoms, healthy attitude to homosexuals once marriage is not considered (even then a large proportion have no issues with it)

If the church speaks out today, even the more acceptable diarmuid martin, very few people will heed what they have to say. Many would votes against something in spite of them, they often don have any justification to speak out in the eyes of many. So unless you have been living under a rock, the church influence is on life support in the south in political and social matters. Even many priests are relieved of that!

Show Time

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

pmcmahon wrote: »

i love how these threads always end up being about religion.

I did my best to try and rile up a few people yesterday.:D

Sound of Silence

walrusgumble wrote: »

What has this got to do with the economy?

Nothing. It's a response.

Japer

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

WanabeOlympian wrote: »

Seeing as France is just as near to the UK and has a more successful economy

why has the UK contributed so much more to EEC and EC funds ( from which we have beneffitted so much ) than France over the past 4 decades so?

France had a history of colonization, just like Belgium and Spain etc

Nodin

sunflower27 wrote: »

Yeah, the political system here is so corrupt.... I think it is time to face facts. It is not going to be an easy overhaul. Time to let someone else sort out the mess.

Yep, no corruption at all over the water....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/29/prince-andrew-kazakh-billionaire?INTCMP=SRCH

None at all, at all....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/bae?INTCMP=SRCH

Japer

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

Nodin wrote: »

Yep, no corruption at all over the water....

none linked to politicians over the water.

contrast that to the situation in this little banana republic eg look at charlie haughey ( thanks a million, big Fella, he said to Ben Dunne ) on to Bertie Ahern ( the minister for finance who did not have a personal bank account but won his money - he said - on the horses and the dig out from his mates in Manchester ). Look at the corruption in the planning process and the galway tent and ...well, you know we're the laughing stock of Europe?

Seanchai

Japer wrote: »

none linked to politicians over the water.

Assuming you're not trolling, it's hard to believe anybody can be this ignorant about what a disgustingly corrupt polity is British politics.

Political corruption in Britain

sunflower27

walrusgumble wrote: »

The reason that is in such a mess is because people like you left it to them to create this mess. Instead of calling for their heads, people like you simply re-elected them, Lowry, Aherne, o Donohue (not corruption but over spending) and god knows how many local councillors. Why? He fixed the road and got mammy the medical card. ( you as in people who have the attitude that you have highlighted)

Time to cop on folks, time to actually grow a spine and take responsibility for ourselves

For those who got caught up in debt during the boom. Still this self serving horse manure that the banks are to be blamed for absolutely everything, you are just as much in fault For taking money that you had no chance of repaying and for living life styles that your not manageable. No boom ever lasts . What did people do with their ISSA funds? Bloody spent it on luxury items an holidays( not everyone of course)

Time to demand more out ourselves first.take responsibilities for our own actions like any other mature country

Actually, I did not vote any of them in!

I am not an Irish citizen(yet!)

I do agree though, time to get a voice and say enough! The corruption in this country is incredible. It really is beyond belief.

The recent incident with O'Reilly highlighted that. The absolute gall and cheek of the man. It astounds me.

Sound of Silence

Japer wrote: »

none linked to politicians over the water.

contrast that to the situation in this little banana republic eg look at charlie haughey ( thanks a million, big Fella, he said to Ben Dunne ) on to Bertie Ahern ( the minister for finance who did not have a personal bank account but won his money - he said - on the horses and the dig out from his mates in Manchester ). Look at the corruption in the planning process and the galway tent and ...well, you know we're the laughing stock of Europe?

British Members of Parliament could be bought and sold for not too shabby a price. This is a scandal which has raised it's head almost every year since 2006. Life Peerages were also on the market for those who thought to donate a tasty sum to the Labour Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Cash_for_Influence_Scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_for_Honours

It's also been been recently alleged that particularly generous Tory donors could have special access to the Prime Minister. One such donor, whilst speaking to undercover reporters said that paying "£250,000 [would] gain "premier league" access to Cameron, Osborne and No 10's policy team". Such donors could ask Cameron "practically any question [they] want" and "If you're unhappy about something, we will listen to you and put it into the policy committee at No 10. We feed all feedback to the policy committee"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/mar/26/cash-for-access-cameron-meetings-donors

Currently the Coservative Culture Secretary has been pressured to resign over allegations of corruption in regards to his involvement with News Corporation and their bid to take over BskyB.

Just recently Liam Fox, the then Secretary of State for Defence, had resigned after a long career involving alleged expenses scandals and his involvement with Adam Werrity, a former business colleague, who he had provided with a full Salary despite having no position within the Government.

Just before this, the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, resigned from his post after having been involved in an expenses scandal where he had claimed just over £40,000 on a second home.

Irish Politicians aren't the only crooks.

Chuck Stone

walrusgumble wrote: »

The reason that is in such a mess is because people like you left it to them to create this mess.

Nobody asked that the banks be bailed out. Nobody agreed to NAMA. Nobody agreed to the CPA. These measures were foisted on the population.

You're talking bollocks.

Fratton Fred

Sound of Silence wrote: »

British Members of Parliament could be bought and sold for not too shabby a price. This is a scandal which has raised it's head almost every year since 2006. Life Peerages were also on the market for those who thought to donate a tasty sum to the Labour Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Cash_for_Influence_Scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_for_Honours

It's also been been recently alleged that particularly generous Tory donors could have special access to the Prime Minister. One such donor, whilst speaking to undercover reporters said that paying "£250,000 [would] gain "premier league" access to Cameron, Osborne and No 10's policy team". Such donors could ask Cameron "practically any question [they] want" and "If you're unhappy about something, we will listen to you and put it into the policy committee at No 10. We feed all feedback to the policy committee"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/mar/26/cash-for-access-cameron-meetings-donors

Currently the Coservative Culture Secretary has been pressured to resign over allegations of corruption in regards to his involvement with News Corporation and their bid to take over BskyB.

Just recently Liam Fox, the then Secretary of State for Defence, had resigned after a long career involving alleged expenses scandals and his involvement with Adam Werrity, a former business colleague, who he had provided with a full Salary despite having no position within the Government.

Just before this, the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, resigned from his post after having been involved in an expenses scandal where he had claimed just over £40,000 on a second home.

Irish Politicians aren't the only crooks.

Maybe Irish politicians aren't the only crooks, but how many have resigned? in fact, how many Irish politicians have ended up in prison?

I admit though, some politicians got off far too lightly http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5301510/MPs-expenses-Sinn-Fein-claimed-500000-for-second-homes.html

old hippy

Red Pepper wrote: »

Zero? Really? Then why are the majority of parents still putting their children through baptism, communion etc?

For my nephew & niece, because they couldn't get into the local school, they had to be "catholic". I can tell you, the parents wish they didn't have to go through the whole sham.

Red Pepper

NO! I rather die on me feet than live on my knees.....800 years...de Brits...rabble rabble

old hippy wrote: »

For my nephew & niece, because they couldn't get into the local school, they had to be "catholic". I can tell you, the parents wish they didn't have to go through the whole sham.

Many catholic schools actually dont look for the baptismal cert even after you tell them the child was christened. And most catholic schools have many non-christians too. And getting them baptised does not mean they have to do communion/confession/confirmation.
I think some parents look for excuses to make them look less like hypocrites

nedzer2011

Many of our ancestors gave their lives in the hope of achieving freedom from the British. They may or may not be horrified at the current state of our now independent state but by f**k over my dead body would we disgrace their memory and hand ourselves back to them. Does anyone have pride nowadays?

Scanlas The 2nd

nedzer2011 wrote: »

Many of our ancestors gave their lives in the hope of achieving freedom from the British. They may or may not be horrified at the current state of our now independent state but by f**k over my dead body would we disgrace their memory and hand ourselves back to them. Does anyone have pride nowadays?

Our ancestors had their time, it's our time now to do what we feel like doing, they will certainly have no bearing on my decisions.