Katherine Zappone Envoy Gig

There may be too few seats to go around. Though it may seem unlikely, an SF majority government is a possibility when the crony coalition falls.

Regards...jmcc

You FG types never expected SF to have more seats than FG either. After yesterday's debacle, Coveney has the political stature of a garden gnome. He was probably the best hope as a replacement for Varadkar.

Regards...jmcc

You wont hear anything from Labour,afraid of their lives that awkward question will be asked of them about the Merrion victory party if they raise their heads above the parapet.

Pity we dont have a proper media with the appetite to really investigate that little shindig

What we do know is that the next government will involve SF and I know that must stick in your craw.

The political stature of a garden gnome. I thought it was a rather good description of the position in which Coveney finds himself. No doubt it is upsetting to you FG types but that is reality. What is not reality is your rather odd claim that SF not getting an overall majority in a GE that has not been run is a "fact".

You don't seem to understand how the media situation has changed for FG either. Even the once reliable Sindo/Indo is no longer owned by Dinny O'Brien. Its tone has changed and even Philip Ryan is asking tough questions of the crony coalition. Communicorp, previously owned by Dinny O'Brien, has also been sold to Bauer and FG. Without the media dominance that these outlets provided, FG is struggling to get its policies and views propagated by the once colllaborationist Dublin media. The danger for FF/FG now is that SF has what the Americans refer to as "the big Mo".

SF has political momentum. It beat FG into third place in the last GE. FG has the misfortune to be led by a serial loser who was appointed by the FG Oireachtas politburo despite the grassroots voting for Coveney in the election contest. Varadkar has led FG to one defeat after another and even managed to lose a safe seat in FG's heartland. The crony coalition may have the makings of a single party but there is a substantial number of FFers who would not be grovelling FG wannabes like Martin and faced with the termination of their political careers, they may consider defecting to SF. That is a factor that could give SF a majority after the next GE. If the defections are to start, they should do so after SF starts to consistently poll around 35% in the opinion polls and the FG wannabe Martin is not removed by FF.

Regards...jmcc

One can always spot an FG type by its insults. They are really quite binary in nature. To them, one is either FG or not. In previous times, FGers would accuse people of being FF supporters. Now, as SF is the largest party, they accuse people of being SF supporters. The Trump reference is for bonus points as it was FG who was traditionally pro-Republican Party and now seeks to hide that fact. I noticed the Trump talking point being pushed a while ago by FGers. It was a particularly cack-handed FG PR effort to associate SF with Trump.

As for the Sindo/Indo terms, they are a kind of shorthand for IN&M. Dinny O'Brien had to sell his shares in IN&M for around 45 million Euro having spent around 500 million Euro acquiring them. And the Dublin media is a rather incestuous village media when viewed by people with experience of the media outside of Ireland. It was easy for FG to control these gombeens but now that stranglehold is rapidly disappearing. The implications of that might be dire for the crony coalition and some of the cheerleaders for FF/FG will have to reinvent themselves to survive.

It is the binary FG/not FG thing that has led FG to having one of its worst GE results ever. It has reduced Coveny's political stature to that of a garden gnome as it tried to create a makey-up job for its crony Zappone. Unless FG does something quickly, its incompetence is going to accelerate the possibility of an SF majority government when the crony coalition collapses.

And now the usual suspects want to commemorate the RIC/Black and Tans again.

Regards...jmcc

Yes, was interesting that the Indo gave a fair bit of coverage to Leo at the festival and even published the photo in the online version anyway but I don’t think the Irish Times had a single word about it. Obviously wanted to kill the story.

It's a fair point re not featuring the infamous festival photo, I suspect more to do with how and when it updates its website particularly over weekends. But I have to disagree re their general coverage and them wishing to kill the story, certainly not. Their focus is primarily political and they have been as damning as any other publication.

I did watch prime time and it's correct SF have not asked for resignations YET! But to suggest they've said nothing is completely incorrect and they are certainly not alone in this regard.

Timing has to be put into context, Opposition parties know Dail in recess, they are playing the waiting came, they know like most of us, FG will go into hiding for a few days, they equally know there's going to be in-fighting at FFG think ins and sensibly waiting to see what other information will materialise. Let's not forget Pearse Doherty has also put in a FOI request to Paschals department. Let's also not forget a motion of no confidence is likely and better put down when Dail as actually returned.

I commend in particular Social Democrat's and SF for their responses to date, Labour seem to be asleep on this entire debacle and also commend a small few FFG deputies for having some courage to speak out .

Gosh you were kept busy in the wee hours 😏 seems a certain cohort comes out at night. Some excellent points raised over night but of course we know, there will remain, those who despite their loyalties fail to see anything untoward having occurred throughout this debacle.

Always fascinated me that the Tired old Blame SF for everything game is rolled out every time FG caught acting the maggot. Some outlandish claims such as dictatorships at play and absurd accusations of Homophopia just because people disagree with Leo's breathtaking arrogance are just Tiresome.

But of course most right thinking ,sensible and objective observers see this entire debacle for what it truly is, Shameful, Shenanigans and quite disgraceful.

The FG cult membership may not like it, but this entire charade has damaged FG's credibility, few can deny this with a straight face 😏 but of course some will

Still working. Lightning and brown-outs are not a great combination and a few terrabyte databases had to be checked. I watched a few committee meetings in the past but Coveney was being made to defend the indefensible. At times it was hard not to have some pity for him because the other politicians were doing such a good job on the questions. There seems to be a list of insults ready for anyone who questions FG. The questioner must be an SFer and therefore their opinion doesn't matter. The questioner must be a Trump supporter because FG has been trying to claim that SF supported Trump (a very odd claim). The terrifying thing about the FFG coalition is that they really believe they are the smartest guys in the room (Enron reference). There's a general sense of frustration among some FG supporters over the Zappone/Merriongate thing because it has dragged on and she is not an FGer.

Regards...jmcc

Had considered location of posters but still no excuse for silliness 😏