Leo Varadkar resigns as Taoiseach

martco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919335#Comment_121919335

ya I think you're correct, it looks like an FFG permafrost scenario to me

I imagine FFG worked out that even with a rock bottom core vote they'd still likely have enough seats to continue their indefinite rule and to copperfasten that theory imo FFG have engineered the uncontrolled unmanaged influx of people seeking refuge etc using them to create chaos, division and distract from some major policy failure...the useful bit in that aforementioned chaos is a division of the opposition's electorate vote i.e. SD/SF/LAB etc will leak votes to nutjob single issue candidates (who'll prob not even get past a first count) whilst FF + FG's core vote is what it is and won't move much now and will suffice to drag them over the line again

5 more years of FFG I think ahead which I'm sure will please a select few, lets see how it pans out

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919395#Comment_121919395

It's such a wonder people are leaving politics when they have balanced, insightful comments like that made about them.

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919253#Comment_121919253

The video of the country’s Taoiseach/leader in a nite club eating the face off some randomer got next to no commentary. Had that been a married heterosexual leader, he’d be pilloried and gone.

rob316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919335#Comment_121919335

FF will go into government with whoever will keep them in power, the rest is just noise. They are a party that govern not sit in opposition. They did that confidence and supply agreement in the previous government with FG so they could cling to some resemblance of power

Higgins5473

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919281#Comment_121919281

And? For three people it seems to be quite effective in what it is setting out to do. You’ve no real point to make here.

Potatoeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919406#Comment_121919406

His phone could be hacked, bugs placed in his home. It’s the security risk more than anything.

Kermit.de.frog

https://twitter.com/paddycosgrave/status/1770414751887065535

What was this about?

humberklog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919406#Comment_121919406

Yeah but wasn't that refreshing to see?

No one gave a monkey's about it.

I'd rather read about politicians being pilloried for their political actions/inactions rather than stuff in their personal life.

Except if they're being hypocritical in how they promote themselves.

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919425#Comment_121919425

Yes. Exactly! I expect a little more from people in very responsible positions.

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919401#Comment_121919401

I wonder though how five years will have changed the vote demographics. I bet both FF and FG lost of a lot old faithful voters in the pandemic years. They still needed a third wheel to form government.

It's more likely there'll be more independents after the next vote.

realdanbreen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121918934#Comment_121918934

The people, you and me, will decide who makes up the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas will decide who takes the "reins", that's how democracy works. If a radically different alternative is what you're after then maybe the North Korean system or the Russian electoral system might be your bag, it's not mine though.

nachouser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919426#Comment_121919426

Leo was edited out of the Kate Middleton photo. Catch up, man.

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919440#Comment_121919440

No, not refreshing to see.

smokingman

I haven't bothered reading the last 28 pages here. I'm sure they were probably filled with attempts at gay puns and right wing assholes and bots trying to denigrate him.

I lived through Haughy and Liam Lawlor and Donnie Cassidy; I'm actually Irish.

This guy was training to be a doctor...he had the smarts from day one.

This guy guided us through marriage equality and women's rights to their own bodies.

This guy is a human like the rest of us and if he feels like he can't do it any more then I'm not going to bother asking why and I'm just going to thank him for his service.

This guy is proud to be Irish and has done well in my opinion to make this tiny island a force in this world.

This guy, despite all the homophobic hate in this world and especially with our Irish history of the hateful Church dictating who should be raped or buried in a septic tank, still rose to be a leader despite that.

Did he make mistakes? Of course he did. Looking at the resignation speach, did you feel he felt that? I did. I made a big mistake trusting my ex wife but did I think I was mistaken when she turned against our kids, no; I didn't have control but I was still disappointed. I still felt the disappointment my kids felt and I think he feels the same about Irish people in the same way.

He was the leader of our amazing country and while we still have loads of problems, I still think he felt the same responsibility I feel toward my children.

I hope he has some well needed rest and Wu Wei in his future. He's done Irish people proud in my opinion.

humberklog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919426#Comment_121919426

Absolutely effing nothing.

That fella already cancelled a press conference last week where he was gonna snitch on people he previously worked with.

He thinks saying he's holding a Press Conference is as important as holding a Press Conference.

For a clever fella he's doing his best to show himself up as a needy fncking eejit.

a2deden

He will be missed, you can tell he was seen as a threat when the opposition "fans" hate him so much

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121918359#Comment_121918359

That's nonsense.

Look, I know some people want to believe the the 80's was some sort of Mad Max scenario in this country, but you know what I don't remember from the 80's...insane levels/percentages of inflation, record levels of homelessness, tents on the streets of Dublin/Cork/Galway or wherever, owning a home being a complete pipe dream for the majority of young people, people in their 40's stuck at home with their ageing parents, not having to worry about whether you can get a doctor's appointment or not, sick people dying on trolleys in hospital corridors, ridiculous rent prices, a renting sector that's been hocked out to private class of leaches, people spending the majority of their pay packet merely on their rent alone.

Not everything is "better". Not by a long shot.

And what makes it all worse is that the crises we are in now are the ticking time bombs of our future. We have a vast array of people in this country for whom the future is a very bleak prospect indeed.

The 80's may have been a tough time to secure a job, but at least there were social safety nets in place to help. There's nothing like that now. And in the 80's you could actually buy a bloody home on a single modest wage.

MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919406#Comment_121919406

Not sure about gone, but I think they certainly would have gotten a lot more negative publicity.

That said, I've no problem with somebody from the LGBTQ+ community getting the breaks for a change. They had it bad enough for long enough.

kincaid

Goodbye to bad rubbish, he was always a lying hypocrite

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919406#Comment_121919406

It's not the 1950s anymore.

No one cares about extra curricular affairs these days.

a2deden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919407#Comment_121919407

Not really a terrible thing though, better be in power and actually affect something. Similar to the Greens, they get slammed but they getting stuff done.

humberklog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919500#Comment_121919500

What are the Greens getting done? A lazy, fussy and dated Deposit Return Scheme using machines that weren't fit for purpose in Scotland?

Where's the low hanging fruit such as electric ports in apartments? Why not large recycling bins like in most EU countries? Why have 3 deisel fumed bin lorries doing recycling runs in residential areas?

Green Party... GTF.

Kermit.de.frog

Paschal is probably the choice here for FG? Relatable, private sector experience, good in Finance, head of the Eurogroup...? If competency is the criteria...

kincaid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121916398#Comment_121916398

Varadkar thought the Irish people would be stupid and vote yes yes but the people were smart and saw that this corrupt government were lying to the people and taking their orders from Europe ...

Varadkar was up his own ass and had no respect for the Irish people

Stephen_Maturin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919476#Comment_121919476

I hope for your children’s sake you feel more responsibility for them than Leo

There have never been as many homeless children in the history of the state as under this government

appledrop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919372#Comment_121919372

I think its either someone sick or a scandal.

Irish Politicians don't just walk away like that out of blue.

a2deden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919538#Comment_121919538

More than any of the opposition parties

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919476#Comment_121919476

If I remember rightly he came out as support for marriage equality was building. I don't think he was a leader in that.

What I am grateful for though is that we had a doctor at the helm when the pandemic broke. He accepted it as a national medical emergency while in England the waffler in chief dragged his heels, no doubt spreading the carnage of the first wave.

I'll never forgive Michael Martin for his "meaningful christmas".

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919476#Comment_121919476

Yeah I think this is a fair post.

The people on here spouting hatred need to realise there are very few places better than Ireland to live in the world right now.

We have problems yes- there’s no doubting that- but we aren’t at risk of famine, war or ethnic cleansing.

This government has guided us through some fairly tough scenarios with Leo at the helm- could he have done better? Probably.

The hatred on here is absolutely unwarranted- go live under the rule of a warlord or despot dictator and then compare a FFG government with that!

rob316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919476#Comment_121919476

Been gay has **** all to do with his performance, and your post reads because he's a gay man we should go easy on him.

The country is great because we are a tax haven for trillion dollar companies, not any policy him or his party have made.

He was pushed today, he is arrogant beyond belief, no chance he would walk on his own accord.

What has he done to make Irish people proud? He's not leaving cause he done such a great job.

Read back over the last 28 pages it's better than any of the crap you just posted above.