An increasing tendency to criticise people for doing things that are entirely legal.

How is this even a thread?

Says the poster responsible for 25% of the posts in said thread.

I was lambasted recently on a thread about “fair deal” for offering advice on succession planning to limit exposure to “fair deal”.

I was lambasted as the “tax payer would have to pick up the tab”.

I just lolled a little at their foolishness.

The problem with JP McManus is some people see it as cynical PR, especially given he's invested a lot more in Limerick GAA (though I can't find out exactly how much he is put into Limerick GAA).

Robbie Keane is free to work wherever he wants but, given the ongoing situation, he shouldn't be surprised if he is being asked about who he works for and the reality of the situation there. I don't begrudge him work and I don't like that politics and sport mix but that horse has long bolted.

There is a simple argument here and others have mentioned it: what is legal is not always moral and what is illegal is not always immoral. Not everything is black and white.

I've worked with public billionaires (2 in particular) and they have advisors telling them which "public charity" investments to make to manage their reputation in places they either live or have businesses in. In some cases it is purely cynical, in some cases there is real altruism. In this case, I'm sure it is a bit of both.

I don't think JP pays any tax in Ireland and hasn't done so for decades.

The issue with JP is that nobody is exactly sure how he made all his billions. There are lots of rumours.

I don't care about people who legally manage their taxes to their own benefit.

I do have an opinion on hypocrites that want to have their cake and eat it too.

Like lads who "love the community" but won't pay tax there, or who reduce income tax through charitable donations but pretend that those donations were 100% loss to them.

Want to pay less taxes? Grand, no problem with that. Just don't then turn around and pretend to be some great man of the people.

thing is about Keane. He’s not in Tel Aviv because he needs the work or the money.

He would have had other offers of employment and he is already a multimillionaire. His wealth is conservatively estimated to be over 35 million… the guy was a professional footballer for about 23 years give or take and right up to the end was scoring some very lucrative contracts with the likes of Liverpool, LA Galaxy… etc. he’s been coaching for a while too.

He is there because it pays well, the weather is good etc. He is there because it suits him. It’s completely legal.

Keane could easily have managed cutting his teeth in Serie B, top divisions in Austria, Denmark or wherever…..but he was made an offer, one he accepted…

personally considering the human rights record of Israel, I myself would not wish to travel there or contribute to its economy, be it as a holiday, or work etc…

What Keane is doing is absolutely legal, the case of it being moral is another days debate however…

Israel has been criticised extensively by …. The UN & Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and many other respected international bodies…

Robbie Keane, is not breaking any laws, however he is entitled to be criticised, or indeed supported.

I think this is a case of recency bias, prompted by the JP McManus story. It would need a lot of research to justify the statement that there is any increase in criticism of people doing legal things. Or that it is more common now than in other decades.

The McManus story could be compared to the Padraig Flynn story. He is a politician from the past who had three houses, one in Mayo, one in Dublin and one in Belgium. I don't think there was any illegality involved there, but he still got criticised. On the other hand some Irish people are and were forgiving of illegal activity. When Ben Dunne broke the law in Florida, he got a lot of sympathy. And that happened again after his recent death, when the illegal activity was referenced.