2016 General Election Waterford

spookwoman

Government screwed victims of symphysiotomy, Magdalene laundries, children homes abuse, Hepatitis and HIV blood contamination. They are hoping they will all die so they don't have to listen to them look for justice anymore. These are atrocities committed by successive governments.
Other scandals were FAS expenses, HSE corruption (one of these is the Beacon which I believe Brian Cowen is a non exec director on the board), Ben Dunne and Ansbacher, the Flynns, Moriarty, Flood, Haughey, Lowery, Berty, Anglo. Stardust, Redmond, Foley, Burke, Collins the list goes on and on. This all under FG / FF and labour.

fuzzy dunlop

robtri wrote: »

Still Cronyism.... nothing more nothing less

No its not.

robtri wrote: »

the point still stands they did not reduce the burden on the citizens

They did they increased reliefs.

robtri wrote: »

i appreciate it is different set of circumstances, but they still have worst rate of homelessness, so they again have failed the citizens. so what if they increased the payments, the results speak for themselves.

They have less homelessness than here despite having minuscule powers to deal with it relative to FG/Labour andbeing in a constitutionally enforced coalition.

robtri wrote: »

more than you obviously think. but again its unfair on people who work hard and make something of their life. which counties have an effective marginal rate of 73% on their citizens????

None that I am aware of and Sinn Fein is not proposing this. Sinn Feins proposals are more in line with the Netherlands. So your contention seems to be that people who are not wealthy don't work hard! Interesting! Whether it is unfair that that people who can afford to pay more is unfair or not is a philosophical argument and has a different answer depending on who you ask. But the wealthy in society are also getting an indirect subsidy if basic services are delivered through progressive taxes. Its interesting that Billionaires with vast fortunes like Warren Buffet have no problem with this concept but the well off gombeen classes in Ireland do. But this was always they way.

robtri wrote: »

sure lets cut the dole then by 50%, sure hey the will still have 50% left....

Yeah because 50% of 188 Euro is comparable to 1% of a million:D

robtri wrote: »

my post was about SF policy not FG or labour... so if all you can say about SF policies is look at their(fg and lab) policies... it really doesnt address the policy issue

Problem for you is that that is not all I said about Sinn Fein policies. I said it is in line with most European countries at least the progressive ones.

robtri wrote: »

never said it was crime free, if i did please point it out.

The point is the SCC as it is is arguably no more effective while been prone to miscarriages of justice and being manipulated by corrupt gardai. The arguement for not scrapping it is more fear mongering

robtri wrote: »

the special criminal court serves a purpose and will continue too...

And there is no reason to think it is sacrosant.

robtri wrote: »

I would advise reacquainting yourself with the links between SF and the IRA and the atrocities carried out and the terror still wrecked on families in recent years.. google is a great start.

I am well aware of these links and attrocities which were carried out in the context of a sectarian conflict with its legacy in the 17th century. On the other hand the political classes in the South who have had the luxury of not having to deal with the issue of protecting its citizens from loyalist mobs have created and try to defend a situation where basic services to the most vulnerable include the disabled are cut while the likes of Dennis O'Brien pay minuscule taxes in the country that has made them billionaires.

tombliboo83

And where is the clean party who advocate fairness from top to bottom? It doesn't exist because man always. Fairness and maturity don't exist.

fuzzy dunlop

tombliboo83 wrote: »

And where is the clean party who advocate fairness from top to bottom? It doesn't exist because man always. Fairness and maturity don't exist.

Yeah I remember this type of argument in 2007 with regard to FF. FG almost proved that to be an axiom. It still doesn't mean we have to accept it.

jimbo1979

I voted for Conway in last election,never again.about as useful as a chocolate fireguard

Wanderer78

tombliboo83 wrote: »

My politics are moderate. I believe in helping the poor and paying for social services but not making benefits a way of life. A fair taxation rate for all, to pay for services and not punish success. Abolition of tax avoidance across the board and a cut off of welfare for those who aren't bothered.

Keep Irish water with a flat rate yearly charge. Keep property tax and abolish prsi in place of usc.

I could go on but my policies would be fairness for one and all but personal freedom for all (abortion, separation of state and church etc) I think the state should provide limited welfare, tax break on job creation, where can I go from here? Nobody or no party is aligned with fairness .

FF, FG corrupt and self interested. Labour have no identity and the Sinn Fein leader is bad at figures and shielded his child abusing brother. Where does the sensible vote go to but only to the parish pump and Waterford is bereft of representation(apart from Halligan who brought a couple of excellent private members bills)

We're another 50 years from political maturity I fear

understandable post but any idea what will more than likely will happen to those that ive highlighted?

fuzzy dunlop

Wanderer78 wrote: »

understandable post but any idea what will more than likely will happen to those that ive highlighted?

Good question!

This is the thing. During the boom there was approx 95% in employment. The 5% unemployment rate was for the most part down to people who have been recently let go and seeking employment or voluntarily left jobs to seek different employment.This is the same the world over where a buoyant economy is in existence. Therefore the numbers that "couldn't be bothered" were probably somewhere around 1% or 2%.

I bet if you looked at the 1% that "couldn't be bothered" more closely you will probably find that there is some underlying cause maybe a mental health issue.
The point being that if there is meaningful work where people are treated with dignity offered then most people will avail of it.

My own experience of the recession was that many employers in Ireland took advantage of the economic difficulties to cut peoples wages vastly which was probably needed to some degree but nonetheless many did it opportunisticly. I worked for three months for minimum wage in a Dublin pharma after working 10 years in a well paid tech firm. When commuting was taken into account I was taking home what I got on the dole. This I could tolerate but what I could not tolerate was the sheer lack of dignity the management and existing workforce treated the agency staff who were being taken on.The solution for me was leaving the country. Someone else might stay on the dole if its possible but most will work if the have a fair opportunity. It always amazes me when we have high unemployment that there are those who seem to think that the unemployed are all work shy freeloaders ignoring the fact that when the work was then most of these people were in work. It also ignores the fact that in any firm or institution public or private there are also the unproductive who don't earn there wages but statistically they are "paying for someone else".

Q: Anecdotes of fella living "up the road" who never worked a day in his life.

Wanderer78

fuzzy dunlop wrote: »

Good question!....

couldnt have answered it better myself. unemployment is a lot more complicated than you could imagine. our whole labour market has been decimated over the last few years and for some, work simply isnt paying not just financially but for the sheer lack of respect in the workplace.

Royal Legend

jimbo1979 wrote: »

I voted for Conway in last election,never again.about as useful as a chocolate fireguard

Me too. thought Labour would at least keep FG honest.

Did not happen though and Ciara looks completely out of her league.

I think Waterford might be a bit closer then the bookies suggest. not sure why they think Cullinane will get in easy, no history of SF doing that well in Waterford, plus especially as Halligan will take a lot of the Working Class vote.

Gardner

Royal Legend wrote: »

Me too. thought Labour would at least keep FG honest.

Did not happen though and Ciara looks completely out of her league.

I think Waterford might be a bit closer then the bookies suggest. not sure why they think Cullinane will get in easy, no history of SF doing that well in Waterford, plus especially as Halligan will take a lot of the Working Class vote.

Agree with this completely. As I posted previously I think Cullinane is far from certain. He needs a huge 1st pref vote to be in with a shout. The only candidate who will be transfer friendly to him is Una Dunphy and Halligan will get a huge amount of these also. All other candidates are transfer friendly to his rivals.

I will be voting on Friday as follows; Halligan No.1, Dunphy No. 2, Cullinane No.3

Prediction: 1. Deasy 2.Halligan 3. Coffey 4. Butler

as I said previously I expect a recount as Butler and Cullinane will be going down to the wire. I would like to see Cullinane getting in but the Zanu FF vote is still there in Waterford which is a huge pity.

BBM77

So the Taoiseach, Ministers Richard Bruton and Charlie Flanagan are in Waterford today. Let’s hope none of them get a heart attack after 5:30pm!

MRnotlob606

BBM77 wrote: »

So the Taoiseach, Ministers Richard Bruton and Charlie Flanagan are in Waterford today. Let’s hope none of them get a heart attack after 5:30pm!

Oh they're walking on eggshells down this neck of the woods.

Gael23

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

I'll be voting for David Cullinane and John Halligan. Both of them almost guaranteed a seat due their commitment to this county. I think it's safe to say the Labour party will be wiped out of this city shortly.

I agree with you on Labour. But what can Halligan and Cullinane do in the Dail? Neither of them will ever come within a mile of having power.

O Riain

Gael23 wrote: »

I agree with you on Labour. But what can Halligan and Cullinane do in the Dail? Neither of them will ever come within a mile of having power.

You can only base your vote on what you see and what I have seen is that they are the two politicians who have fought the most for Waterford.

The other 3 who actually have power do not seem to have any fight for Waterford.

noby

BBM77 wrote: »

So the Taoiseach, Ministers Richard Bruton and Charlie Flanagan are in Waterford today. Let’s hope none of them get a heart attack after 5:30pm!

Is this one last push to get Coffey over the line?

Jamie2k9

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

I'll be voting for David Cullinane and John Halligan. Both of them almost guaranteed a seat due their commitment to this county. I think it's safe to say the Labour party will be wiped out of this city shortly.

David Cullinane really?

Not a bit commitment, all talk. Gerry can barley add up listen to his interviews last week.

Wanderer78

BBM77 wrote: »

So the Taoiseach, Ministers Richard Bruton and Charlie Flanagan are in Waterford today. Let’s hope none of them get a heart attack after 5:30pm!

any podcasts from any of them today from waterford? thanks

thund3rbird_

Wanderer78 wrote: »

any podcasts from any of them today from waterford? thanks

enda with billy mac
wlrfm fb page

https://www.facebook.com/wlrfm/

Cabaal

Heard something on Today FM news earlier about somebody throwing themselves on the bonnet of Enda's car,
can't find anything online to confirm this though

Deise Vu

I don't think I have ever been as disillusioned before a GE. At least the last time we knew we could give FF a kicking they have deserved since the 70's. With the Troika really in charge, we could also look forward with genuine belief to reforms of budgetary processes, public services and the private sector monopolys such as in law, pharmacy, accountancy, banking. In simple terms, for the benefit of politicians presumably, the Troika spelt it out that we had too narrow a tax base, un-sustainably high spending and we needed to bring competition into areas like the law and pharmacy.

What did we get? No law reforms, some scratching of the surface at pharmacy, nothing in accountancy or banking and absolutely no-one held accountable for anything in the HSE or general public service. So no reform then. Then we get ministers (and opposition) lining up to tell us they are going to narrow the tax base (we will take 20 or 30 or 50 or 100,000 people out of the tax net - take your pick of whatever promise you like). Then we get everyone talking about 'Fiscal space' and how they are going to spend all the money that they were prevented from spending previously by our bankruptcy. Most of which seems to be centred on giving back the excessive pay rises to civil servants that were a huge part of our bankruptcy in the first place.

In my own case, and I would imagine there will be lot more like me, I will be faced with a choice on Friday of voting for an eejit, Enda, or a bunch of dangerous eejits (Gerry, Lucinda, AAA etc etc etc). I am sure I will plump, with a heavy heart, for the lesser eejit. I fully expect after a lot of preening and prancing about it will end up a FG/FF Govt with FF getting more ministers than their TDs would justify but with Enda in the top job for another five years. We can only hope that he spends another five years jumping around high-fiving people and doesn't actually make any real decisions that could derail the rest of us going about our business. With (a lot of) luck we might be then in a position to withstand the carnage which the 18 months or so that the following Govt will last brings (which will be led by Gerry or Mary Lou and will be comprised of the lunatic fringe).

mooseknunkle

Cabaal wrote: »

Heard something on Today FM news earlier about somebody throwing themselves on the bonnet of Enda's car,
can't find anything online to confirm this though

RTE retweeted this earlier

https://twitter.com/patmcgrath/status/701750244212678657

MRnotlob606

Gael23 wrote: »

I agree with you on Labour. But what can Halligan and Cullinane do in the Dail? Neither of them will ever come within a mile of having power.

Well maybe Halligan won't due him being an Independent but Culliane as real potential as a member of Sinn Féin.

Wanderer78

Deise Vu wrote: »

I don't think I have ever been as disillusioned before a GE....

not am i only disillusioned, but im actually disturbed by what has been happening with our health service and the homeless situation etc. id have to agree with eamonn dunphy, we re not an economy but a society, and i feel our society is fractioning apart. im not convinced that any of our politicians and their parties really know what to do. i fear for those that are battling their way through our health services and those that are currently homeless in all its forms. this is the most upsetting time ive ever experienced regarding our country while watching all this unfold over the last few years. all i see are extremely wealthy companies and financial institutions gaining more and more wealth with all these serious social problems unfolding. disturbing stuff and very upsetting

dzilla

mooseknunkle wrote: »

RTE retweeted this earlier

https://twitter.com/patmcgrath/status/701750244212678657

fair play to them all taking the day off work to go down and protest.

O Riain

dzilla wrote: »

fair play to them all taking the day off work to go down and protest.

Maybe they're annoyed because THERE'S NO JOBS IN WATERFORD

Royal Legend

O Riain wrote: »

Maybe they're annoyed because THERE'S NO JOBS IN WATERFORD

Are you being sarcastic about unemployment in waterford?

O Riain

Royal Legend wrote: »

Are you being sarcastic about unemployment in waterford?

How do you think it's sarcasm? The other poster made a dig at the protestors not being in work. The country's unemployment rate might be below 10% but Waterford's certainly isnt

Royal Legend

O Riain wrote: »

How do you think it's sarcasm? The other poster made a dig at the protestors not being in work. The country's unemployment rate might be below 10% but Waterford's certainly isnt

Apologies O'Riain, there are so many government apologists and Fine Gael social media watchers on these boards its hard to distinguish the good from the bad.

O Riain

Royal Legend wrote: »

Apologies O'Riain, there are so many government apologists and Fine Gael social media watchers on these boards its hard to distinguish the good from the bad.

I know what ya mean, how bad can it be to make a joke about the protestors not being in work when there are no jobs.

Royal Legend

125 families made homeless in January is possibly an emergency according to Kenny, not a Crisis. but he would not explain the difference on RTE tonight. But then again, maybe those homeless people are whingers as well.