Micheal Healy-Rae seemed to be getting the brunt of it anyway.
The gobshites didnât care anyone coming out of Leinster House yesterday got it be they a politician, journalist or an intern. These fuckers were just there to cause trouble thinking there were like those other gobshites in America on January 6th.
Who is this Senator George Craughwell lad or who nominated him for the Seanad more precisely?
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Gerard Craughwell. Heâs bounced around a few parties I think. Was high up in one of the Teaching unions before he went into politics
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Teachersâ Union of Ireland.
Una is not happy.
There are a lot of silly plot holes in the DĂĄil, plenty of shoddy lines, and a sense that weâre in a constant cycle of âHavenât I seen this one before?â
But the Taoiseach really set the tone for the new season of Oireachtas TV by juxtaposing Ken Loachâs Palme dâOr-winning film, I, Daniel Blake â both a searing evisceration and tender exploration of the human cost of the neoliberal entanglement of poverty, administration and the cruelty of Britainâs inadequate welfare system â with a roundly trashed television series from almost a decade ago, Benefits Street. It was a jaw-dropping reference that makes you wonder about the cultural diet of some of our political leaders.
Benefits Street led to Channel 4 and Ofcom receiving hundreds of complaints. The programme was widely criticised, seen as exploitative âpoverty pornâ, with the programme-makers and broadcaster accused of stirring up hatred against people, and some of its participants saying they felt betrayed and misrepresented.
Citing Benefits Street in a discussion about reforming disability and long-term sickness payments is obviously ludicrous, and would make one almost long for the days when Bertie Ahern was extolling the virtues of Robert Putnamâs Bowling Alone â the Collapse and Revival of American Community.
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But with the nights drawing in, itâs a great time of year to take a trip to the cinema, play some records at home or curl up with a good book. With that in mind, Iâve decided to make some cultural recommendations to the good people of the DĂĄil and Seanad in the hope that the bar gets a little elevated, and terrible television references are never made again. And luckily, thereâs a new Ken Loach and Paul Laverty film out, The Old Oak, that examines community and xenophobia. One for our politicians to watch.
For the conspiracy caucus of the DĂĄil and Seanad, with their occasional flirtation with far-right tropes, if they missed Naomi Kleinâs talk at the RDS at the weekend, they can pick up Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World in all good bookshops. They might also learn something from Web of Lies by Donegal woman Aoife Gallagher, who is an expert analyst of far-right extremism, disinformation and conspiracy theories. Or they could enjoy the Conspirituality podcast, the QAnon Anonymous Podcast, and Waiting for JFK: Report from the Fringe, Donie OâSullivan and CNNâs year-long investigation into how some Americans have fallen for another QAnon-related conspiracy theory.
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Politicians of every hue should revisit Brian Frielâs The Mundy Scheme, the plot of which involves a new Taoiseach and a Cabinet minister concocting a plan to repurpose parts of Ireland as graveyards for sentimental Irish-Americans. Perhaps itâs time for a revival â only this time, letâs switch the graveyards with data centres. Eamon Ryan could direct, since he insists that data centres are a key component of Irelandâs infrastructure â which theyâre not, theyâre a key component of global tech companiesâ infrastructure. Easy mistake to make! Itâs hard to tell the difference sometimes.
Kojaque: âYou could try the house share, try rentinâ, bit of money for the landlordâs pension⊠Now the Corpoâs knockinâ down the flats just to build a few gaffs just to fill âem with some triple-barrel surnames.â
For Darragh OâBrien, I prescribe Townâs Dead by Kojaque, the title track from his stunning 2021 album featuring the lyrics, âYou could try the house share, try rentinâ, bit of money for the landlordâs pension ⊠Now the Corpoâs knockinâ down the flats just to build a few gaffs just to fill âem with some triple-barrel surnames. Door frame wouldnât fit the halo on your head, tell ya butter wouldnât melt in your mouth âround your way.â
OâBrien might also be interested in the upcoming documentary, 100 Bliain de ThithĂocht â GĂ©archĂ©im gan Deireadh (100 Years of Housing â Crisis Without End), written and directed by Paul Webster, and airing on TG4, Wednesday October 25th at 9.30pm. The whole country should tune in.
The two largest government parties might also bop around to I Love You by Fontaines D.C., currently on tour with Arctic Monkeys in the US, and heading to Mexico City this weekend to play two massive shows. âIs their mammy Fine Gael and is their daddy Fianna FĂĄil?,â the song goes, âAnd they say they love the land, but they donât feel it go to waste. Hold a mirror to the youth and they will only see their face.â
Mary Wallopers and TPM member Charles Hendy with band members, his brother Andrew and SeĂĄn McKenna.
When heâs finished watching reruns of Benefits Street, the Taoiseach can finally kick back and revisit the back catalogue of the Dundalk group TPM, which features members of the wonderful The Mary Wallopers, a band that provided one of the highlights of BBCâs Glastonbury coverage, and this month embarks on a tour of North America, playing iconic venues such as Irving Plaza in New York City and the Troubadour in Los Angeles.
[ Taoiseach wrote to Kylie Minogue to ask if he could welcome her to Ireland ]
[ Colm Meaney: âWeâve got to get these f**kers out â Fianna FĂĄil and Fine Gaelâ ]
Whatâs especially pertinent is the protest rap TPM Donât Have Your Money, a song which featured artwork of Varadkar himself. Letâs recall those lyrics, shall we? âI take a hundred euro out of the tax pool, but thatâs all the harm Iâm going to do to you. The other pr*ck gets up at 6am, drives his beamer to Dublin to the KBC bank. He walks in, starts committing crimes with a ballpoint pen. Kicks some pensioner out their house, the tax form, it never got filled out. The interest piles over the last long while, your woman on the telly has a sinister smile. The rent goes up, the wages stay steady, youâre watching Fine Gael ads on the telly. Theyâre telling you all about welfare cheats. Be careful now child what you choose to believe.â
Calling out the people on benefits trope while we have recorded unemployment is tone deaf. Distractions from how inflation and cost of living is crippling people and the goverment arent taking action on the companies benefiting from it. Energy costs have fallen but not passed onto consumers, hence record profits. Supermarkets are jacking up proces after a promotion has finished to a higher new price than before the promotion. Two examples yet Leo thinks we need to blame people on social welfare.
Not to mention parents choosing to stay unemployed due to the cost of childcare. This is rampant. Childcare should be (almost) free, through state subsidies.
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Energy costs have been passed on
Another substantial hike on the way in the minimum wageâŠall driving up gross wages whilst people are worse off in their pocket due to no housing, fuel prices, electricity etc etcâŠand we swimming in money as a country
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Sure itâs costs one wage to send the kids to a childminder,so whatâs the point.Better off minding them yourself,at least you know theyâre being cared for.The country is full of parents whoâd love to go back to work but canât afford it.
I completely agree. Here in Sweden, itâs costed in proportion to your income but capped at âŹ145pm. The average in Ireland is âŹ750pm. Itâs ridiculous, Joe.
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Pal you know thats a lie. And dont start with the energy credit which is a cod, tax payer money to pay the companies gouging the consumer. Only keeping their prices high to maximise record profits. Tax the cunts until they drop the price. Nothing against makimg profits but the levels over the last 18 months is sick
30 uears ago ypu could have a one income household, live comfortably and get a mortgage. There is nothing wrong with that. Stay at home parents, not on social welfare have been eliminated by government policy going back to berties time.
I am very sceptical of the removing the women in the home wording referendum, i dont think its sexist but that there is a right to be a homemaker, thus there is an argument that the state should support that, while its not feasible in todays age
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They have not.
I reviewed my costs of gas and elec only this evening (electric Ireland). 10% reduction from 1st Nov is a joke.
The financial system for energy was inadequate to manage the past 20 months and I donât see proposals to improve it.
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Energia down 20% from today
Pardon me 
Multiple energy suppliers has been inflationary in Ireland rather than driving down price for consumers.