Are the Irish fit to be let at the controls?

Churchill said and did a lot of things. Some of which were nonsense, other opinions that have aged horrendously, the fact he is so lorded by a huge chunk of people is odd.

I don't think the current UK government can talk either...lol.

I don't disagree that money has been wasted by the Irish government at times very badly, but overall they are operating at a surplus I think?

e.g. 2023 had a surplus of 1.2bn.

I thought our lads being good lil' boys and girls in Europe was to make sure they got cushy jobs after their runs here? A friend of mine reckons that in general politicians are bought by "globalists" and there is a drive for neo feudalism. Who these lads pulling the strings are I don't know however it sort of makes sense when you look at the levels of immigration allowed. A governments 1st priority is supposed to be it's citizens. How is general immigration a benefit to us? We should only be taking people with qualifications/experience in areas we are short supply of.

It's just as well that were in the EU.

You think a surplus of 1.2b makes all the staggering waste elsewhere ok? Would you not have preferred a surplus more than 1.2b?

Thats just the attitude the OP is hinting at, "we have a few quid so **** odds about everything we wasted".

Case in point, that surplus you are so proud of wouldn't even cover the overrun in costs for the childrens hospital. Imagine that, the hospital build is so out of control its overrun is more than a wealthy countrys entire budget surplus.

But this is Ireland. And its not enough to blame the government, because governments everywhere are just a reflection of the people who put them there.

I thought our lads being good lil' boys and girls in Europe was to make sure they got cushy jobs after their runs here? 

Complete myth, very few Irish politicians over the years go on to have "cushy jobs" in the EU, although it would be a natural progression because the EU is political. Also we need to get away from this notion that politics isn't a job, it's s calling. Complete bollix.

It's a line that gets thrown out quite often but doesn't stack up when placed under any scrutiny.

The idea that Ireland are subservient to EU is also a myth, the EU has rules, directives, etc that each country signs up for. It's how it works.

The notion that we roll over for the EU is complete bollix, see the Apple case for an example.

Ireland internationally could be described as a cute whore.

We need to be. The 80s are not coming back, primarily because they were horrible.

That sort of noise only distracts from the problems that face Ireland, which are not unique in any sense.

Exactly

it’s just typical moaning cnuts on the internet tbh

We live in one of the safest, richest countries in the world, with individual freedoms and prospects that 90% of the planet can only dream about.

That didn’t happen by accident. It happened because Irish people were “at the controls”

The blame game seems to be becoming more popular too. A noticeable uptick is noticeable in coverage of incompetence within the HSE by RTE especially, as a subject to deflect all the criticism at point blank range of its own prominent skullduggery

Does the OP really think other countries don't have similar levels of incompetence in public service.

UK - HS2 Rail is the big one, but read Private Eye and it literally is eyewatering the level of incompetence in the UK. And the Germans are not much better - look up the CumEx scandal where tens of millions of taxes were wiped out with support of high ranking politicians.

No, definitely not. A lot of people too lazy to do their job in Ireland, its a joke, then if you ask them to do their job they act like you are annoying them.

im talking from personal experience here of the Guards and co councils.

Are the boards irish conspiracy theorists now simping over feckin churchill. A feckin genuine imperialist all the while whining about globalists.

You genuinely couldn't write this stuff as a comedy because people would call it too far fetched.

These folks are the real patriots too they will claim 🤣🤣🤣

If you're directing that at me I'm neither a conspiracy theorist, a person that whines about globalists (I work in a MNC!), nor a "real patriot" either

I think it's you who needs to look beyond your WhatsApp groups and Gript twitter feed.

By literally any objective measure, this is one of the best places in the world to live. Every single international study that comes out about quality of life, freedom of the press, equality, education, and so - has Ireland at or near the top.

A few more immigrants to dilute down the 'pathetic racist whingers' cohort of Irish people isn't a bad thing. They might actually be grateful to be here.

You also have the freedom to up sticks and move to any of about 30 other countries tomorrow.

Again, we have a massive social welfare system and free universal health care.

Is it perfect? No. Is it better than what the overwhelming majority of the planet's population have? Absolutely, it is off the charts.

Wealthy people will often have gotten to that state by minimising their tax, together with being very good at earning money. I'd guess that at least half or more of Apple's vast wealth is off the back of tax minimisation that is so aggressive I think avoidance would be more apt. Aided and abetted by one of Europe's most atrocious tax avoidance schemes - Ireland.

This hatred and tax suspicion of the wealthy is just begrudgery on your part and those with a similar gripe. It's all the more astonishing given that Ireland is little more than a giant cargo-cult based on attracting large US MNCs looking to minimise their tax. Do you remember the Panama Papers and shock-horror of all those wealthy people using that place to run their family and other trusts out of that disguise their wealth and tax liabilities? Well guess which country was at the front of the queue objecting when the EU was proposing legislation to make trusts transparent so that the true beneficiaries were exposed? Good old cold wet Panama East.

The irony of Irish people complaining about tax avoidance by individuals is mind blowing. We need to import more mirrors, so more people can get a good look at themselves.

Irelands problem isn't tax revenue - It just had the largest tax surplus in the EU; €10 billion - it's wasteful stupid expenditure, something that would take writing a book to cover. Councils buying existing housing stock instead of building them themselves for half the cost. Building a children's hospital for more than double the cost of a near equivalent recently completed in Perth, Australia. The list is bloody endless.

Honestly I dont think its an Irish thing.

Call me a cynic but I'm beginning to think it's more or less part of the job description for governments and higher levels of administration and other state bodies to organise the robbing of the public funds. While keeping a pretence of this not being so. In some countries its less in other countries its more overt.

Shure we just love a party and spending money, especially other peoples. Back before the crash, folks in all walks of life all over the country went a bit mad, over-borrowing and over-spending on stuff like there was no tomorrow. People were splashing cash like they were seriously wealthy - hey look at me I'm great - shopping weekends to NY, multiple properties, holiday homes abroad, expensive cars, designer everything, no worries about debt or what could change. Shure it'll be grand 😉. The IMF had to rein it in.

Since they left, the mad spending is on again, only this time it's the state gone a bit mad and spending taxes like there's a never-ending supply - hey look at us, we're the best - most expensive childrens hospital in the world, more supports for ukranian refugees and immigrants, more money in foreign aid, a billion for NI projects, unnecessary referendums, overruns on spending, no worries about paying down debt, fixing the mountain of social issues or what could change. Shure it'll be grand. We have a magic money tree.

Must be something in the psyche. Always trying to prove to others that we are 'better' whether it's at an individual or local level, and by some of our politicians who think they are world leaders 😂😂. Maybe Churchill had a point.