FF/FG/Green Government - Part 3 - Threadbanned User List in OP

Not at all, you mentioned they "Wanted" just clarifying what they want and what they get are two very different things 😉

What you've heard, yet again, is in your head

I think nobody in either FG or FF thought the greens would be so daft as to attempt it. Either that or they are so pissed off with the greens on LNG etc. that they were happy to let the off and watch the roasting. I don`t believe the response or the "Not intended" BS either. Nothing but an attempted ass-covering exercise.

When you see the likes Patricia McKenna`s reaction to the granting of licenses for gold and silver exploration, my guess would be that there is a cabal within their hierarchy, similar to Ryan that know s f a about rural politics, that are calling the shots without consulting anyone. The reaction of some of their representative showed as much. They were as flummoxed as everyone else.

That T.D. representing Carlow-Kilkenny is Malcolm Noonan. He spent 20 years as an environmental activist with Friends of the Earth, so most likely in the same stables as Ryan when it comes to his knowledge of anything rural.They have a history on turf as well being the cheerleaders for the recent closure of peat burning plants.

Comically today the bold Malcolm tweeted thanking the leaders of farming organisations for meeting him to discuss protected areas. A day late and a dollar short there Malcolm.

That's the chap, couldn’t think of his name, I have the Delightful Pippa Hackett in my constituency, Lady Pippa as she's known, absolutely clueless, she actually said the PQ response was misleading, with friends like that, who needs enemies 😁

Hillarious, FG and Greens at each others throats on the Late Debate. Who needs an opposition 😁

Greens insisting Ban going Ahead

FG, "Only if its agreed by the whole of Government"

FF (MM) There's no plan to ban turf this year.

Perhaps Varadkar is considered the equivalent of a political dead man walking. Would Martin have had the guts to do this if Varadkar was going to become taoiseach in December?

Regards...jmcc

Nothing personal. Just a statement of fact very easily seen by anyone reading your post.

Did you miss the reports of Ryan being gutted yesterday by his coalition partners parliamentary members who make up 73 of the present government seats compared to the greens 12, or do you somehow believe that the green party can just pass laws for whatever they wish all on their ownio ?

Martin has been as much a disaster for FF as Varadkar has been for FG. FF should have easily won more seats in the 2020 GE except for Martin's inner wannabe FGer bubbling to the top in supporting Charlie Flanagan/FG's commemoration of the Black and Tans/RIC. The destruction of FF's unique identity began with the C&S agreement with FG in 2016 when FF supported FG but didn't get any mercs and percs. Now, voters can no longer tell the difference between FF and FG and SF is the most popular party in the opinion polls. Martin is the FF equivalent of Eamon Gilmore. Labour could could have been the largest Left of centre party had it stayed out of government in 2011 but Gilmore and the other pension tourists were too greedy. Labour went from 37 seats to 7 seats in one General Election cycle. This turf war might be FF's Water Tax battle because it will have to decide whether to support the ban or walk from government.

Regards...jmcc

FF, I think, is also weak in some urban areas such as Dublin. It really needed to get well ahead of SF and FG but it really screwed up in the 2020 GE. That comment from Barry Cowen was interesting. The Turf War will have a greater effect on FF's older rural support. It would not be surprising to see FF walk and Martin not even make it to December. The danger for FF, and FG, is that if SF's vote reflects its opinion poll ratings, then a lot of seats that were won on SF transfers in 2020 may be SF seats after the next GE. There is also the very real risk of FF and FG candidates fratriciding because the electorate consider them to be much the same party or, in simpler terms, the Not-SF candidates. Fratriciding is when a party has enough votes for a seat between two candidates and the candidates knock each other out in the same count allowing a candidate who was marginally ahead of both in that count to win the seat. This happened with FG in Waterford where it had a Waterford City candidate and a rural/Dungarvan candidate. The two FG candidates fratricided and a Green candidate unexpectedly won the seat.

FG would have easily won a seat in Waterford had it run a single candidate but FG's candidate selection strategy was decided before Charlie Flanagan decided to go commemorate the Black and Tans/RIC. The last polls before Christmas 2019 showed FG doing quite well. Support for FG and for FF almost collapsed coming up to the GE in 2020.

FF really needs to separate itself from FG in the minds of the voters and this Turf War may actually be a good one considering FF's the age and geographical demographics of FF's support. The problem with FF is who replaces Martin. There seems to be one faction that supports Jim O'Callaghan but FF's performance in the DBS bye-election (5%) may have scared FF and if that level of support was extrapolated to a GE, then O'Callaghan's seat would be history. It probably will not as a GE has very different dynamics to a bye-election and it may be that Ivana Bacik will lose her seat as old party voting patterns reemerge. There was some signalling from Donohoe/FG before Christmas that he worked well with Michael McGrath/FF. They could be the replacement leaders. However, the war in Ukraine, the housing crisis and the fuel crisis are still going to cause problems for this government and potentially for FF/FG/Greens in the upcoming GE.

Regards...jmcc