The decline of FG?

Who said he is going to be nominated? Who said he is going to be elected?

If he is elected, may I remind you that someone just told us in relation to Pat Cullen and her failure to condemn terrorist attacks, therefore becoming complicit in them, that the electorate have spoken. Why would that be any different for McMahon?

Unless there are different rules for different politicians from different parties.

I'll give you another example, everyone knows that Mairia Cahill was raped, everyone knows who she was raped by, yet there are posters on here who deny this because there was never a conviction in a criminal court. McGahon was never convicted in a criminal court. Why are different rules applied to different parties.

And before you go throwing insults around, I have never said that McGahon is a suitable candidate. All I have said is that Harris never said he was happy for him to be a TD, and we are still waiting for the quotes from posters on that.

Finally, given the choice between a candidate who was cleared of assault by a criminal court and a candidate who was convicted of terrorist offences by a criminal court, which would you choose?

Thats a bit of a stretch now

I think Harris is an eeny weeny bit more calculating and shrewd than that

I'd posit btw that he's not in the business of creating a verona murphy part deux,kicking him out of the party and the lad only goes and gets himself elected because for some reason all politics is local and the locals serve up a different verdict on him than you and I

That being said,do carry on all of ye in the tatting of each others tits on this matter,I'll only ask myself is it important to anyone other than 3 or 4 peeps here,my posit is no

Any examples?

What should absolutely horrify you though, is that it is almost universally accepted by supporter and opponent alike, that whatever room he is in, Simon Harris is invariably the smartest person.

His premiership should frankly be causing insomnia to every member and supporter of Sinn Féin.

Quit posting nonsense you made up and deal with some facts for once.

Just because you repeat it multiples times doesn't mean it isn't nonsense

Yet more imaginary nonsense you made up, this is just embarrassing now.

I asked you for the comment from Harris, don't bother tagging me with more nonsense till you find them

Or admit you made up some bulls**t

Its not bizarre actually as here is the only place people are going on about it

The motives for this non story tangent continuing is clear as day to me-the same 3 or 4 peeps repeating the same stuff to each other for to goad each other

Its not discussion and it's not debate and this thread is not in the after hours section or current affairs either

This is supposed to be a higher brow forum devoid of the last few pages of nonsense

Not surprised by Varadkar's decision. He never struck me as a natural politician, never looked comfortable in the job tbh.

Why is Griffin giving it up?

Interesting that there is such an exodus considering how well they did in the recent Locals and Euros. I wonder if there's something they know that we don't, I'm still convinced LV stepping down is due to a big bad new story that hasn't surfaced yet

Definitely no surprise, and tbh I think a big part of the decision is being gay. While people are very accepting of it now there are aspects of the lifestyle that a lot would be uncomfortable with for a politician. References to Kylie and Love Actually in Downing street are tips of the iceberg.

I think he just wants to be a gay man now.

FG's popularity with their voters suffered during their reign.

Really? I thought they did a fantastic job for their voters. Harris on the other hand seems to be much too liberal for the traditional FG voter. Just my 2 cents

If you want to build towards a United Ireland then yes parties on both side of the border need to work together and get their opinion on Ireland and how they see the future

Why wouldn't FG invite him to their party conference? that was in 2019.

Just because he was attending their conference doesn't mean they automatically agree with him or his party.

You will also find FF have done online discussion with politicians from Northern Ireland.

At least they have some cop on and some ability to do their job, not the bickering sh*t and incompetence you see from other parties. You can figure out which party I mean by that yourself

What I think the DUP attendance at the FG conference shows is that there is an avenue for dialogue between unionists and nationalists. The key point is that if SF are involved at any point, the dialogue fails.

Many have said that the involvement of SF is the key blockage to progress on a united Ireland. The fact that the DUP could attend an FG conference, but not a SF conference, only confirms that.

Portraying the DUP attendance as a bad things (as some have tried to do) is the height of stupidity as dialogue is the way forward, first towards a shared island, and in time, to consider other options.

You haev yet to get any predictions right yet continue to make them constantly

You have no idea what the TUV/DUP will do long term

The only way forward is dialogue and cross border project

Not the PSF way which is …..well ou described it lovely above. Let's do f**k all, not talk to everyone and blame everyone else when it doesn't work

Incompetence

PSF should move out of the way and let the politicians get on with it, they can bicker with themselves

What Sinn Fein fear most is that any open dialogue must have no predetermined outcome. They are so wedded to the idea of a united Ireland, in the same way that the DUP are wedded to the UK only outcome, that open dialogue about the future is difficult. What @FrancieBrady and SF want is a closed dialogue with the only possible goal of a united Ireland. No unionist or other nationalist party is going to take a part in that charade, which is why their initiatives constantly fail.

This is what is so much better about the Shared Island Initiative. That is based on the only reality - we share a small island. What political outcomes result in the longer run, result from the coming together of people to openly think and openly discuss with no preconditions. The binary closed ideas of the GFA were necessary at the time to get buy in from terrorists. With the passing of time, the opening of dialogue to broaden the discussion is more necessary than ever. This government has repeatedly shown to take a mature view on this, unlike the warmongerers singing rebel songs in the pub or at the election count centre.

The facts contradict you - the government are planning - for a shared island. These are the details that matter.

That is all that is needed for now. When that is shown to work, other things may come on the table.

Like SF policies, Future Ireland is long on hyperbole and short on details and common sense.

Not to discuss but to put the case for us rejoining the Commonwealth. He got a standing ovation but I think subsequent events showed FG that they are great buddies only as long as they are getting their way.
SF and anyone who dealt with them have known that for a long time. Theresa May and Boris found out too.

Again what SF fail to see is that talking leads to results.

All the posturing about we have to plan for a united Ireland only pushes people away. A sit-down with all options on the table is the only real way forward. That is scary for Sinn Fein as it means the restricted binary options are opened out.

To be fair to the people of Northern Ireland, most of them have figured this out. This is why the proportion for a united Ireland is stuck below 40% (other than in the fevered aftermath of Brexit).

The way they are going they won't be here in 100 years. Their latest attempt at an immigration policy appears to be nothing more than dog-whistling to the racists with little detail and crazy unimplementable ideas. It won't be enough for the right-wing racists and it will put off those of us with a conscience.

FG have been in government for 14 years, and will be in government after the next election. That’s the reality of it.

But they are also desperate to be seen as tough on immigration, so they stand back twiddling thumbs while these nutters burn buildings and attack people living in tents