Leo Varadkar resigns as Taoiseach

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921812#Comment_121921812

It seems odd. I would expect Leo was back channeling his preferred successor knowing that Harris would seek the role. It would appear nobody was interested and Leo went ahead anyway. Paschal was the clear choice to steady the ship, they are screwed now.

FF TDs will be voting Harris in through gritted teeth.

Bobson Dugnutt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921953#Comment_121921953

It was the senior FG ministers.

My name is URL

I'd be surprised if FG can muster even 20 seats in the next election. Dunno what they are playing at with allowing Harris to run uncontested.

There must be something big coming on the horizon and Harris is just saying f*ck it and taking a chance

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921851#Comment_121921851

What credibility would they have pivoting to such a position after nearly 15 years in government? How many of those it was aimed at would actually buy it?

walshb

Whatever one thinks of Harris’s credentials, absolute kudos for the desire/ambition, and balls to want the challenge.

ToweringPerformance

It's laughable people saying he or FG have done a good job with the country. If the nation is in the state it is now with all the money the multinationals are pouring in what the hell is going to happen when that money stops. Just having full employment isn't a signal of success either. If people are working and can't afford stuff like a house or health care/child care then it's a very poor reflection on government management.

Beechwoodspark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921820#Comment_121921820

Harris is literally in love with the “idea” of being Taoiseach - all of the trappings that go with it - he is going to get some rude awakening when he realises the mess Leo leaves behind for him to own...

Quiet Achiever

I don’t particularly like Mr Varadkar but he has done nothing to deserve the trolling that his resignation has provoked (here & elsewhere on social media). Earlier today, the reaction of Sinn Féin and the other opposition parties was charmless to the point of being rude and entirely lacking in magnanimity. Not a word was said to wish Mr Varadkar well personally. His announcement was met with a theatrical & gratuitously confrontational demand for an immediate election.

And the erosion of behavioural norms has real world effects. When mainstream parliamentarians abandon good manners for boorish discourtesy, the pre existing boors on the extreme are encouraged to abandon discourtesy for threats and actual violence. A large number of Fine Gael TDs will not seek reelection & the toxic atmosphere facing moderate politicians is one of the principal reasons. All of the political parties in Ireland now have difficulty attracting candidates to run for office.

With acknowledgment to Cormac McCarthy & No Country for Old Men, it starts with bad manners.

Edit: stolen from elsewhere

Beta Ray Bill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921680#Comment_121921680

Was talking about the Bunga Bunga parties. There was all sorts going on, aside from the "minor" thing.

Everyone knew it was happening, no one cared.

Tenzor07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921800#Comment_121921800

Labour used to be the party of the ordinary working person, now run by a group of D4 libs... One who's spent most of her life in Academia "Labour's queen of "political correctness"Ivana Bacik. and then you have Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, another "Woke liberal" out of touch with the ordinary working person... And is too busy propping up tents on Mount Street to worry about his constituents..

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921637#Comment_121921637

I think it is time people involved in politics and political parties copped on that the same old cr** they have fed the people aint washing anymore.

So now wondering why we have such a shyte health service, one that has had many multiple "systematic failures" (to use the civil service and political terminology) despite the amount of money being spent on it means we are deluded?

Is it delusion to wonder why we have waited so many years to have a new childrens hospital despite it now being the most expensive hospital in the world EVER?

I guess we are deluded when we wonder why ever Ahmed, Mohamed, Giorgi is allowed into the country and usually given hotel accommodation despite us not really knowing if there are their real names and the fact we have our own issues we are not solving first?

I guess it is delusional to think that two people in reasonably good professional jobs could ever afford to buy a half decent home somewhere near their work?

I guess it is delusional to think that grown working adults in their thirties should not have to live at home with their parents?

Politicians and political parties need to wake up and start offering results not fooking sound bytes and stop lambasting the people that elect them.

StrawbsM

Will there be a cabinet reshuffle?

Beta Ray Bill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921959#Comment_121921959

Donohoe, Humphreys, McEntee, Coveney have all ruled themselves out, that's the entire front bench.

Not even a competition. Sorry state of affairs really.

I wonder is it that no one wants to lead FG or no one wants to be Taoiseach? Almost seems as if Leo Varadkar pulled up the Ladder after he climbed it. #f**kthenextguy

Beechwoodspark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921983#Comment_121921983

He hasn’t a clue what he is in for, that’s the truth of it.

StevenToast

All the FG TD rats scurring away from any responsibility and throwing Simon Harris under the bus......the coronation....

What a fùcking joke....

Gutless...the lot of them......Heather Humphries and her " family commitments"

What?....liars and cowards....

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921999#Comment_121921999

Good post.

The dividends from the FDI model and investment in education are because of decisions made generations ago. There's nothing sustainable about this admin.

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921684#Comment_121921684

And this is precisely why a lot of the Western world is fooked.

Style over substance.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921973#Comment_121921973

A bigger pension maybe for Harris? Looking ahead and sees writing on wall for his own seat?

prunudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921900#Comment_121921900

You could argue Harris has been lying in the long grass himself. Remember he was also one of the few that publicly backed Coveney when Leo took over from Kenny.

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921719#Comment_121921719

Would this be Greystones local chat now?

Could you ever tell him there are other places in Wicklow outside of Greystones?

Gusser09

The more you think of it the more weird it was what happened yesterday.

There must be an another reason as to why he stepped away so impulsively without any real hint it was coming.

a2deden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921026#Comment_121921026

None of your comments are related to what im saying though.

Im purely talking about Australia and the misinformation spread regarding it.

Cluedo Monopoly

The optics on a no contest coronation really are not good.

Harris get his Taoiseach painting for max 10 months, I predict 7 months.

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921807#Comment_121921807

No, it is some people can't handle the truth.

Our education system has gone to shyte, some of us can see it, others just look at quantity.

For instance the junior cert is now almost at a join the dots level.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921982#Comment_121921982

The first party of the main three that grasps or even attempts to grasp the nettle of immigration will be the most successful party at the polls for a generation(s)

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922113#Comment_121922113

Nobody in FG wants the job which is very worrying for them. There must be a load of **** to hit the fan and idiot boy Harris is stupid enough to be the mudguard. 

Nobody wants to be leader except harris. He is in for a serious 12 months until election time.

Donohoe, Humphreys, McEntee, Coveney have all ruled themselves out, that's the entire front bench.

Not even a competition. Sorry state of affairs really.

I wonder is it that no one wants to lead FG or no one wants to be Taoiseach?

I'm not buying. Politicians always want the top job, irrespective of how badly things appear to be going for their party/country. The other 'contenders' aren't running because they are convinced Harris has it sewn up 

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922213#Comment_121922213

Indeed. Watch FG move more to the centre right under Harris.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922244#Comment_121922244

It seems an obvious open goal but I can't see Harris having the leadership quality or gravitas.

Maybe sensible Pashal but he's too smart to step into this mess at this stage.

It's a hospital pass for Harris and he was the only one silly enough to catch it.

Interesting times at any rate.

Raoul Duke III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922244#Comment_121922244

It would be a smart thing to do politically. They should try and emulate the CDU (who they are after all aligned with in the EPP). There's no point trying to be a 'one size fits all' party in the fragmented political landscape we now have.

Try and lock up the votes of the hundreds of thousands of middle class voters who earn 50k+.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121921847#Comment_121921847

MHR does "Kirry" the accent up to the max for his fans.

It's an act, a millionaire pretending to be a common man who "ates" his dinner in the middle of the day.

To be fair to Leo, he's never pretended to be something he's not.