Saoirse McHugh Confused?

Farmer_3650

For Forks Sake wrote: »

She's had Ming Flanagan out canvassing with her the past couple of weeks, maybe that's where the change of tack has come from. Can't see it gaining her too many votes.

If you think she’s bad for jumping on the bandwagon, Ming is 10 times worse. The man never did a days work in his life, not even in the bog...

Better Than Christ

Eric Cartman

I think mchugh only opposes the carbon tax because it would impact everyone and thus impact the poor and rural dwellers more, she wants a tax but only a very hefty one on people just above her sallary and over.

Muahahaha

Farmer_3650 wrote: »

I agree 100%. I would be on that road all summer driving tractors. The big problem I found was no where right to pull in with a tractor and trailer. Very busy road and cars would build up behind me very fast. Then if I did pull in, I could be waiting a minute or 2 to get a chance to get back onto the road again. If they had overtaking lanes every few km or at least a hard shoulder, it would be sufficient.

An overtaking lane every 5km and upgrades of junctions with more lights/better markings & signage would do that road the world of good. It would probably be only a fifth of the cost of building a full 23km dual carriageway that will only saving people 10 minutes anyway.

No-one begrudges Mayo money for infrastructure but you'd have to question if spending a quarter of a billion on one single project is going to be the best bang for buck out there? I dont think it is but Michael Ring seems to be buzzing off the notion that it is going to be known as 'The Ring Road' :rolleyes:

tayto lover

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I think mchugh only opposes the carbon tax because it would impact everyone and thus impact the poor and rural dwellers more, she wants a tax but only a very hefty one on people just above her sallary and over.

Ivan Yeats gave Eamon Ryan a hard time of it today on his show. Asked him if Saoirse was a loose cannon and why she wasn’t sticking to the party line.
The Greens really don’t know what they want.

Eric Cartman

tayto lover wrote: »

Ivan Yeats gave Eamon Ryan a hard time of it today on his show. Asked him if Saoirse was a loose cannon and why she wasn’t sticking to the party line.
The Greens really don’t know what they want.

The green party wants arses on seats and an educated young female rural dweller shook up their demographics and played identity politics like a champ.

the downside was that she was the poster child of the 'green wave' protest vote but the only reason she's in the green party is because PbP isn't paletable in her rural constituency, this was the leftiest left she could go and still get a seat. Now the green party has to swallow that.

statesaver

tayto lover wrote: »

The Greens in Ireland haven’t a clue.
They’d break the taxpayers backs.

Like they did the last time they were in government.

whitey1

Farmer_3650 wrote: »

I agree 100%. I would be on that road all summer driving tractors. The big problem I found was no where right to pull in with a tractor and trailer. Very busy road and cars would build up behind me very fast. Then if I did pull in, I could be waiting a minute or 2 to get a chance to get back onto the road again. If they had overtaking lanes every few km or at least a hard shoulder, it would be sufficient.

Few issues regarding this road

(1) Westport has become one of the top tourist destinations in the country. Traffic is getting heavier not lighter on that road

(2) Allergan have recently committed €150 M to expand their Westport facility.....my guess is more trucks rather than less will be traveling that route

(3) Traffic in Castlebar is absolutely melodian, due in no small part to all the thru traffic going to Westport, Louisburgh, Newport, Achill etc. Back up into Westport in the Summertime can be horrendous, taking people who know into smaller and more dangerous back roads

(4) Much better link to Knock Airport for the western part of the county

(5) Castlebar/Westport is designated as a new regional hub and as such the current road is unsuitable

runawaybishop

Muahahaha wrote: »

An overtaking lane every 5km and upgrades of junctions with more lights/better markings & signage would do that road the world of good. It would probably be only a fifth of the cost of building a full 23km dual carriageway that will only saving people 10 minutes anyway.

No-one begrudges Mayo money for infrastructure but you'd have to question if spending a quarter of a billion on one single project is going to be the best bang for buck out there? I dont think it is but Michael Ring seems to be buzzing off the notion that it is going to be known as 'The Ring Road' :rolleyes:

It's the busiest road in the county and the feasibility study says otherwise, this road has been in the works for decades. A single carriage way each way is only slightly cheaper that dual and would require upgrading in a relatively short time. There is also a lot of shipping along that road and the goods need extra protection as the road is so bad.

You can read more here http://www.regdesign.com/?page_id=493

Farmer_3650

whitey1 wrote: »

Few issues regarding this road

(1) Westport has become one of the top tourist destinations in the country. Traffic is getting heavier not lighter on that road

(2) Allergan have recently committed €150 M to expand their Westport facility.....my guess is more trucks rather than less will be traveling that route

(3) Traffic in Castlebar is absolutely melodian, due in no small part to all the thru traffic going to Westport, Louisburgh, Newport, Achill etc. Back up into Westport in the Summertime can be horrendous, taking people who know into smaller and more dangerous back roads

(4) Much better link to Knock Airport for the western part of the county

(5) Castlebar/Westport is designated as a new regional hub and as such the current road is unsuitable

I agree 100% that it’s a busy road, and will get busier but I think it’s extreme building a dual carraigeway. Most of this traffic from lorries and tourists passes through tulsk going up and down to westport, and the stretch from ballaghadereen bypass to strokestown is in much greater need of an upgrade. They have plans in to do a complete new road here too which will just be a continuation of the road with hard shoulder that’s currently there between castlebar to ballaghadereen. If they want to build a dual carriageway anywhere, build it from Mullingar to Longford..

MayoAreMagic

I have to say, I agree that the spending on the road is lunacy. No need for it to be as expensive as that. They could add a second lane, or even a second lane for stretches of it, for a fraction of the cost. It is just payback to Michael Ring for backing the right horse, and probably helping Leo win a few more in-party votes when the role of next party leader was in the balance. If the money could be ringfenced for the county, Id abandon the idea in the morning tbh.

Re her idea on carbon tax, I think she is right. We have to be pragmatic about the thing, and attacking carbon in rural Ireland needs to be a well thought out and much slower process. There are fixed costs with carbon in rural Ireland that will be difficult to eradicate, and this have to be given proper consideration for the thing to be a success and be effective.

Re her ideas on the suckler herd, again she is right. People raving about reducing the suckler herd in this manner, don't understand the problem. If they get the same CAP payments for the lower numbers - which they should do as CAP is not connected to production - then half the battle is done. If the government actually went and took on the factory cartel, which they should be doing anyway, then they would get a proper price for less instead of a crap price for more, which would be the other half of the issue. Basically farmers would get the same money (or maybe even more money factoring in a positive environmental effect grant to take the place of the cattle), for doing less work. Everyone is a winner in that scenario, and that is simple to put in place.

However, I cant warm to this, Im a Green but I disagree with their policies, spiel. I think she isn't looking to take part in the green party, she is looking to take over the green party and put in place her own ideas. I find that more than a little arrogant. She is basically using the green party as a platform to forward her own individual ideas and put herself in the shop window, without actually doing the hard yards in politics and earning her spot.

In reality, a few pithy punchlines against a very easy target catapulted her into the media spotlight. It reflects depressingly on the state of affairs today that this has seen her get to where she now is.

Edgware

Muahahaha wrote: »

An overtaking lane every 5km and upgrades of junctions with more lights/better markings & signage would do that road the world of good. It would probably be only a fifth of the cost of building a full 23km dual carriageway that will only saving people 10 minutes anyway.

No-one begrudges Mayo money for infrastructure but you'd have to question if spending a quarter of a billion on one single project is going to be the best bang for buck out there? I dont think it is but Michael Ring seems to be buzzing off the notion that it is going to be known as 'The Ring Road' :rolleyes:

I thought Pee Flynn had brought all Mayo roads up to Autobahn status

Triangle

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

I liked her honesty, but she’s totally out of sync with the Greens.

I'm a member of the greens and like a candidate that speaks her mind. Having a candidate that just says what the party says is idiotic. No-one will be 100% behind every policy their party has.
Candidates are voted in to stand for their own beliefs. If people vote her in - she will push against the carbon tax/dividend policy, which is what she should do if it's her belief.

Edgware

Triangle wrote: »

I'm a member of the greens and like a candidate that speaks her mind. Having a candidate that just says what the party says is idiotic. No-one will be 100% behind every policy their party has.
Candidates are voted in to stand for their own beliefs. If people vote her in - she will push against the carbon tax/dividend policy, which is what she should do if it's her belief.

No red lines there so. Open the door Michael the Greens smell power. I'm sure you'll have a few bones to throw them

Triangle

Edgware wrote: »

No red lines there so. Open the door Michael the Greens smell power. I'm sure you'll have a few bones to throw them

I'd prefer to be in a party where the policies are developed by the members than an authoritive party that just wants high PR candidates that just tow the line.

odyssey06

Triangle wrote: »

I'd prefer to be in a party where the policies are developed by the members than an authoritive party that just wants high PR candidates that just tow the line.

You don't develop your policies in the middle of the election campaign, or have a party debate in public.

The time to develop your policies is at conference etc thats when you debate and then you gotta dance with the one who brung ya (to quote the West wing).

She's up there as a Green Party candidate, either act like one or go independent.

Triangle

Edgware wrote: »

No red lines there so. Open the door Michael the Greens smell power. I'm sure you'll have a few bones to throw them

I'd prefer to be in a party where the policies are developed by the members than an authoritive party that just wants high PR candidates that just tow the line.

charlie14

Triangle wrote: »

I'd prefer to be in a party where the policies are developed by the members than an authoritive party that just wants high PR candidates that just tow the line.

So are you advocating that Green Party T.D.`s should ignore the party whip and vote as they see fit ?

Muahahaha

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

I have to say, I agree that the spending on the road is lunacy. No need for it to be as expensive as that. They could add a second lane, or even a second lane for stretches of it, for a fraction of the cost. It is just payback to Michael Ring for backing the right horse, and probably helping Leo win a few more in-party votes when the role of next party leader was in the balance. If the money could be ringfenced for the county, Id abandon the idea in the morning tbh.

Id definitely feel if the 240 million was spent across Mayo on a variety of projects you'd get better bang for buck than building a single 23km road. Anyway it is academic now because its going ahead. In fairness Michael Ring has funnelled a lot of funds into Mayo via the National Lottery funds so its not like the road is the only spending on Mayo. You'd still have to question the price of the road though, a quarter of a billion seems a massive amount for such a short distance but overspending on infrastructure seems to be par for the course with Fine Gael, re: Childrens Hospital, National Broadband plan, etc.

However, I cant warm to this, Im a Green but I disagree with their policies, spiel. I think she isn't looking to take part in the green party, she is looking to take over the green party and put in place her own ideas. I find that more than a little arrogant. She is basically using the green party as a platform to forward her own individual ideas and put herself in the shop window, without actually doing the hard yards in politics and earning her spot.

She reminds me a bit of the power struggle that went on in the Greens back in the Celtic Tiger years. On one side you had Trevor Sargent and John Gormely who were the pragmatic Greens and on the other was Patricia McKenna who was the idealistic conscience of the the party. Saorise is occuping the thorn in the side role that Patricia McKenna did back in the day. Eamon Ryan is desperate for as many seats as possible so he cant bring her to heel, at least not yet.

Elmo

Muahahaha wrote: »

She reminds me a bit of the power struggle that went on in the Greens back in the Celtic Tiger years. On one side you had Trevor Sargent and John Gormely who were the pragmatic Greens and on the other was Patricia McKenna who was the idealistic conscience of the the party. Saorise is occuping the thorn in the side role that Patricia McKenna did back in the day. Eamon Ryan is desperate for as many seats as possible so he cant bring her to heel, at least not yet.

All parties have this to some extent, just you will hear more about it from smaller parties.

MayoAreMagic

Muahahaha wrote: »

She reminds me a bit of the power struggle that went on in the Greens back in the Celtic Tiger years. On one side you had Trevor Sargent and John Gormely who were the pragmatic Greens and on the other was Patricia McKenna who was the idealistic conscience of the the party. Saorise is occuping the thorn in the side role that Patricia McKenna did back in the day. Eamon Ryan is desperate for as many seats as possible so he cant bring her to heel, at least not yet.

Agreed. The issue with that for me is that saoirse mchugh has only got there on the back of one of these american style debates, that frankly prove nothing and are glorified name calling contests, and hasnt actually done anything in politics, or even threatened to. The greens, and the media, have kinda created this public story around her, to my mind for lots of reasons other than her political capability (young, a woman, from a rural area) and now cant go checking her for pretty shoddy behaviour when she may potentially get in. I would say that ryan isnt happy with her at all and I dont blame him.
I believe her spiel is that she is offering the public something different to the usual politicians, but I believe she is in fact being a little naive and a little arrogant in how she is going about it by way of torpedoeing her entire party in the process, and seemingly thinking that her 15 minutes of fame means she can now take on her own party in public. She doesnt seem to be a team player, often seemingly being at pains to be different, and that could go against her. If she polls poorly, it will be interesting to see how things pan out for her