What’s your most controversial opinion? **Read OP** **Mod Note in Post #3372**

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120050546#Comment_120050546

Haven’t owned a manual since 2008 myself, hate them , automatic all the way

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120053179#Comment_120053179

if I could thank this a million times, I would

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120053085#Comment_120053085

Ah right, success means we have a job but have to live in a shared house with other adults or in our car or bunk with the parents.

Sounds great, for anyone in their 30s and beyond... it was nowhere near adequate pre covid and Ukraine.

Star Bingo

Mullets are macho. Short back n sides is for squeaky bums, and Leo to run his hand up

Jack Daw

Almost all political satire is not funny even the stuff that is widely regarded as being genius and incredibly funny. It may be clever it may make some very good points but it generally fails to make me laugh.

If you can't afford to raise children, don't have them. If I see one more young one posting on tik tok about her and her 5 kids finally getting on their "forever home" courtesy of the state, I swear. I'm not saying you have to be minted to have a kid, but Jesus - if you can't feed yourself don't be reproducing more mouths to feed.

Don't get me wrong, the children should be looked after and housed, it's not their fault. But there is a serious problem in Ireland with generational social welfare piss-takery. I know there are genuine people who need the help, but there are an awful lot who take it for granted and do those in genuine need a disservice.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120054595#Comment_120054595

Seems a tad late to be offering that kind of advice when the children are already born? It’s not like children come with a receipt 🤔

Anyways, the issue there isn’t an inability to afford to raise children, it’s an inability to afford accommodation, and they’ve already been determined to be in genuine need if they’re in receipt of support from the State. They don’t have any impact on anyone else in need other than your perception of those who you feel deserve support, and those who don’t. The State doesn’t make decisions based on an applicants morals, it’s based upon an assessment of needs.

That’s not controversial though, everyone with children is entitled to child benefit, and thank goodness nobody has to pay for education in primary and secondary school for their children, as that’s provided for by the State too! 😳

kneemos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120054595#Comment_120054595

Is there a serious problem with generational welfare?

Full employment generally proves most people will work if it's there.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120054775#Comment_120054775

There is a serious problem with generational welfare, and full employment doesn’t mean anything in that context. Being in employment doesn’t mean not needing welfare supports. Generational welfare is more closely related to intergenerational poverty, and Ireland has a big problem in that regard -

Measures of deprivation, in comparison to income, are more sensitive to changing social standards of living. People whose financial circumstances were ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ in childhood were also more likely to experience deprivation in adulthood when compared to those who experienced good financial circumstances in childhood. In 2011, the EU-27 average figure for those who reported bad financial childhood circumstances and then went on to experience deprivation in adulthood stood at 32.9%. In 2019, this average had decreased to 25.3%. In 2011, the rate in Ireland was 37.1%, above the EU-27 average. This figure decreased to 31.4% in 2019; however, Ireland still remained above the EU-27 average (25.3%) for adult deprivation among those who had experienced bad financial circumstances in childhood.

In terms of their risk of unemployment, Ireland performs slightly better than the EU-27 average when it comes to adults who experienced poverty as children -

Finally, our findings indicate that there is a greater risk of unemployment among those who experienced poverty in childhood. In 2019, across EU-27 member States, 11.5% of those who experienced bad financial circumstances in childhood were unemployed in adulthood compared to 6.4% of those whose childhood circumstances were ‘good’ or ’very good’. Here, Ireland performs slightly better than the EU average in 2019, with 8.6% unemployment among those who grew up in disadvantaged circumstances compared to 4.9% of those whose circumstances were ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

https://www.esri.ie/system/files/publications/RS150_0.pdf

Rte young scientists exhibition

More than 10 times as much funding goes into promoting and advertising the "Exhibition" as to actual funding and hosting the "Exhibition" itself.

tastyt

I can’t listen to Irish media be it tv or radio when they review any Irish made art .

No matter how dull , boring , shite an album or film is , if it’s from an Irish director , band , writer or has Irish actors in it we are told straight away how brilliant it is and how amazing the people involved in it are . A load of bollocks really , be honest ffs and stop fawning over every single little thing that’s Irish

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120055673#Comment_120055673

It's been the BT Young Scientists for more than 20 years now. Have you any details on the promotion spend that you'd like to share?

JupiterKid

Very few governments actually do the right thing when in power.

They do the popular thing after they get voted in, but doing what is popular with the electorate and doing what is right/good for the country can be two very different things.

It takes a politician of real courage and gumption to stick with doing the right thing, even if it costs them their seat in the next election.

Very controversial view - babies can be born so prematurely these days with medical advances that the ones delivered extremely premature usually have a huge host of long-term health issues during their lives - perhaps it might be better to just let these ones die.

hayrabit

"to see yourself as others do" is a long long way from being the "greatest gift" , as the olde adage would have us wrongly believe 😂

" thanks, but 'no thanks' mate; ya can keep yer 'greatest gift' to yourself ". I knows enough to know that I don't want to know what folks' general opinion of me is - unless yer including a one way ticket to Canada along with it 😃

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058277888/canada-and-assisted-suicide-for-mental-illness

I disagree with a saying; whether or not that constitutes a Controversial Opinion, well I dinna 🤣🤗

hayrabit

ADHD , Asbergers , Autism etc

My theory is that it's modern medicine, vaccines etc, is the reason why a lot of folks/kids have these debilities nowadays

Apparently there wasn't much diagnosis of these until after the 70s/80s, cos they just, well, "weren't diagnosed/recognised back then". I call bs - I reckon there was sfa people who had such ailments until the advent of the likes of the pill come about

BattleCorp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120053027#Comment_120053027

Splitting hairs here but you don't get fined for glancing at your phone (as long as you aren't holding it). The fine is for holding a mobile phone. You can have it in your hand, switched off and not looking at it yet still be fined.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120055744#Comment_120055744

It's like the local paper for local people. Mediocre thing local person did is awesome.

I know An Cailin Ciuin is a good movie, but saying that irish language cinema is going gangbusters, because of ONE (count them) movie success, is over-egging the pudding somewhat.

Potential-Monke

That women on the news for the first baby of the year, and maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like she just decided to have a baby, no man required. Grand, go for gold, more power to you. But, she shouldn't get a single cent in state support as this was a decision she made, not one she found herself in.

thinkabouit

Maybe somewhat controversial but Ireland is a really really boring country.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062539#Comment_120062539

It’s a small country, is it boring compared to say similar sized countries like Denmark or New Zealand?

blackbox

I'm a fan of technology but I don't believe autonomous vehicles will ever be a success on normal roads.

Situations will always arise where the automation can't cope and will look for the driver to take over.

This happens with autopilots on aircraft where the pilot is highly trained, alert and has a co-pilot and usually has 50,000 feet of altitude to recover the situation.

... and still can end in disaster.

If the car has got into a situation that the automation can't handle, only a person with the skill of a rally driver will be able to recover it.

thinkabouit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062554#Comment_120062554

Haven’t been to Denmark but would say New Zealand there is definitely a bit more to do.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062576#Comment_120062576

I lived and worked in NZ , Ireland is a better country

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062562#Comment_120062562

I dunno. Computers can read and react far quicker than humans, so will see things before they happen. Obviously they won't be able to avoid everything, some things just can't be avoided (ie: a semi truck not seeing that traffic is at a standstill and ploughing into them). But for every day driving, they should be better. A fully autonomous traffic won't have traffic jams as traffic jams are usually caused by driver inattention and slow reactions. Plus, autonomous vehicles won't break the laws or speed. I very much look forward to them because driving, especially at night, is no longer enjoyable because of all the incompetent drivers driving wanchor wagons that are too big and have the headlights pointed directly into the oncoming traffics retinas. Unless they too are driving a wanchor wagon.

castletownman

Contrary to popular belief, a good looking Irish woman compares as well to any other nation. In fact, they are more approachable too. Young ones these days can be unreal because they look after themselves and aren't afraid to show off their bodies within reason. If you look at Reeling in the Years, it's striking how ugly Irish women were back in the day compared to now.

Quazzie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062703#Comment_120062703

I'd love to see how an autonomous car would get on coming down the road to my house. There's pot holes a foot deep, filled with water, that catches lots of non locals out when the reappear every winter. How does an autonomous car deal with that?

StupidLikeAFox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062472#Comment_120062472

I think it's mental to look at a fluff piece about a baby being born, assume a backstory and then think "I hope she gets **** all support from the government"

thinkabouit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062654#Comment_120062654

Same. Ah pros and cons to both.

We could learn something from the way they handle their border’s though.

thinkabouit

Watching a match on TV in the comfort of your own home is a far better time than actually going to watch it live.

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062983#Comment_120062983

I believe the whole point would be because all traffic would be autonomous, roads would be better maintained because money saved on traffic accidents, road fixers are also autonomous, etc. That's the way I'd think of it anyway. All unrealistic for now at least.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062986#Comment_120062986

I think anyone who puts their private life in public like that are open to discussion, regardless of if you think something is mental or not. The facts I gathered from the news bit on RTE news, was that she decided to have a baby and her sister was her birthing partner. I think it's safe to assume it's a no-man required situation. And I think that, in itself, is reason enough to not automatically get supports. This isn't a failed relationship with 1 parent left with all the responsibility. This is someone, I'm assuming due to the language used and was not further clarified in the news, who made the decision to have a child by herself, why should she get the same supports?

And doesn't matter what I hope (I never hoped for anything btw), because she automatically gets it anyway. My controversial opinion is that she shouldn't automatically get it, if my assumption is correct. I said as much in the OP. It fits the thread title exactly, and doesn't make any assumptions which are not clearly identified as same. I think it's mental people automatically get state funded handouts just by proving they can reproduce with absolutely no regard of the childs future if they cannot provide without state funding. Guess we have different opinions on things.