Russia - threadbanned users in OP

It's today's social media/Irish talking point hysteria rubbish.

And it looks like the majority favour it. So we're going to have a "Free Ukraine Road" on the southside of Dublin soon.

Germany has immense supplies of modern weaponary, a global power in weapons exports.

It handed over the oldest crap it had, and only then under duress.

Poland stepped up massively to help Ukrainian people and forces, it's been getting it the neck from many in the EU.

If others had stepped up as before the invasion. Instead of sending mixed signals to Moscow and elsewhere, this might have been different.

If Merkel hadn't greenlighted Nordstream 2 only months after the annexation of Crimea, another reward for Putin. Ukrainian lives are cheap, gas is not and it was needed.

Bit late to be pretending to be virtuous now.

What does Taiwan make ?

Careful, you'll be accused of being a Russian sympathiser next.

We should do neither thing, it's a petty waste of time. The focus is on ending the war and finding a way to deal with Russia in the future. Renaming roads and throwing paint on their embassy achieves nothing and only feeds their persecution complex.

I didn't mean you personally.

Look it will take a long time for the major powers in Europe to approach the level of help the English have given to the Ukraine.

Up to the last minute, Berlin, Vienna, The Hague, Rome were sending signals out that sanctions would be fought against and that Russian gas was worth more than Ukrainian lives.

They are making a virtue out of a mess they helped build and the first cracks in sanctions will come from those 4 above, same as previous times.

Help them at home first.

They enjoyed years of success derived from blood money

Life imitating art there.

Orwell got there before them with that level of Doublespeak

’Attention! Your attention, please! A newsflash has this moment arrived from the Malabar front. Our forces in South India have won a glorious victory. I am authorized to say that the action we are now reporting may well bring the war within measurable distance of its end. Here is the newsflash...

The west needs to turn as many oligarchs against putin. There are already a few of them who want vengeance on putin. But they are the ones who got him elected and completely underestimated him.

A good move freezing Chelsea.

When I first heard this proposal from Minister McConalogue I thought of parallels to Jung Chang's Wild Swans in China where every village was imposed with a ridicilious quota of steel production which led to the farcical situation of people smelting their cooking implements and burning swathes of forest to achieve the quota. It would seem to me that working on sheer economies of scale it would make much more sense to encourage and facilitate exisiting farmers who have specilisation in this field (excuse the pun!) to put more acres under tillage.

That said I think this illustrates how EU subsidies has led to hugely negative specialisation and a blinkered mentality among a lot of farmers. I also think the farming leaders didn't exactly cover themselves in glory in the run up and on the way in to the meeting the other evening, with their rehashing of all their existing gripes and looking it as an opportunity to achieve resolution on these rather than an opportunity to make major changes and contribute to something positive. I suppose it supports the adage, never waste a good opportunity especially if it come at the disadvantage of others, even if that's the poor people of Ukraine!.