This fella is obsessed with opinion polls and seems to form all his opinions entirely on the basis of opinion polls. And cliches, lots of cliches.
Itâs almost like heâs outsourced his brain functioning to the manufacturing consent mob.
There was a poster like that here before called Labane1917.
Itâs surely higher⌠you have to allow for trafficked persons but given we are an island Iâd say 95% have come from other EU countries , making them economic migrants.
So can I tell by overblown sarcastic tone you more or less agree with fintan o toole? The numbers of illegals/refugees seem very small when you break it down. Next break down is how many are children or military aged males
I recall how Fine Gaelers used to go on about welfare fraud as if it was the major issue facing the country as opposed to the reality that it was a very minor, largely irrelevant problem.
Vincent Browne used to regularly make this point and utterly demolish the idea that welfare fraud was any sort of major issue. He correctly pointed out that it was a hobby horse of right wing politicians and right media to get people to âlook over thereâ.
The same is very much true now of this framing of asylum seekers as âa problemâ. Itâs a campaign of demonisation driven by fascist billionairesâ money in order to get people to look away from actual issues.
The people who spend their lives whining about asylum seekers have no interest in any sort of complexity and zero interest in having a functioning society. They only want to shout slogans fed to them by fascist South African billionaires and their agents.
They donât live in the real world.
What does military age males have to do with anything? What age is that? Can females not join the military?
yes
First off, Iâm not anti immigration or taking in refugees. We need a degree of the former for the economy and have to take a degree of the other on compassionate grounds.
FFG were very happy to stand back and let hateful bastards erode SFâs base. This was calculated. Now that it erodes their base itâs an issue and Iâm happy to see them called out.
As for the numbers game⌠itâs complex. We are indeed an island so very few are actually legitimate refugees arriving from war torn countries⌠we are not their first port of call and they are here for economic opportunities mostly. And more power to them⌠but up to last year the majority were coming from countries with no war or crisis. Like Algeria or Georgia⌠we finally updated our database and countries like this were off the list but we had years of taking in people who werenât really refugees and then taking another 7 years to assess them 
. A broken outdated system with the Ukrainian crisis dumped on top of it is largely the issueâŚbut we must also recognise that the population has grown sharply over the last 5 or so years. Migrants/ refugees/ returning IrishâŚa lot of systems and ability to take people in are creaking. Is that the fault of people coming here for a better life? Not in the slightest. I agree with mr otooles sentiments , ffg have been playing football with the refugee topic for a lot longer than the recent presidential election. But the issue as a whole is also a lot more complex than arriving at the small number of claimants refused refugee status. Refugees are not the cause of any of them but they sit within them.
Being an island the question is how much of mainland Europeâs burden are we willing to take while getting our own shit together.
Thatâs an awful lot of effort to write a load of vague, meaningless, clichĂŠ-ridden waffle that adds precisely nothing.
Will anybody read this heartfelt post
Oh my word
When you mentioned the transgender I thought it was Izzy Kamikase you meant, that was a shock, this fella looks like the missing Downey brother 
You just know people arenât serious about this argument when you have some people claiming more migrants and asylum seekers is a capitalist conspiracy and then on the other you have people claiming capitalist want people to he distracted by immigration.
Bang of the boy who cried wolf off the first few lines so I left it
You aul rogue
LATEST |
David McCullagh hosts first show on new RTĂ Radio 1 slot, with Ivan Yates as first guest
Ivan Yates. Photo: Mark Condren
Adrianna Wrona
Today at 10:00
Political commentator Ivan Yates said his âgolden ruleâ in his media training business endeavour is âclient confidentialityâ.
Speaking as the first guest on David McCullaghâs new show on RTĂ Radio 1, Mr Yates addressed the Jim Gavin controversy after it was revealed by the Irish Independent that he coached former Fianna FĂĄil presidential candidate Jim Gavin while also acting as a political commentator.
When asked by McCullagh why he didnât disclose the fact that he had given media training to one of the presidential candidates, while making media appearances to comment on the election, Mr Yates said: âStraightforward question, straightforward answer.â
âI left full-time broadcasting in July 2020, when I set up this, amongst other businesses that Iâve set up in relation to public affairs and coaching, I had a golden rule, and that was client confidentiality.
âAnd in the same way, if youâre an accountant or a solicitor or communications coach, or Catherine Connolly, [who] would never reveal who her barrister clients were. So this is an established and, in my view, an absolute principle of client confidentiality. So if Fianna FĂĄĂl wanted to talk about it, fine, Iâm not going to talk about it.
Ivan Yates. Photo: Mark Condren
Todayâs News in 90 Seconds - Monday, November 10th
"As it happened with Jim, it combusted. Letâs be clear, I had said things before I had trained him about that he had a Dublin opportunity, he had the GAA opportunity. But I actually found out very quickly that this man is not a politician at all. He has no political skills, and he needed to learn them fast. So I would be absolutely, in my view, completely objective,â he added.
After his former podcast co-host, Matt Cooper, described the controversy as a âbreach of trustâ to the Path to Power podcast audience, Mr Yates said he doesnât agree with this statement.
He also claimed he wanted to leave the podcast anyway.
âI really have nothing to say at this time about Matt Cooper, other than to wish Path to Power and the Last Word and all his other things well.
âIâve been looking to get off of this. I actually sent texts to people saying that Iâm so relieved because I tell you what Iâm really good at, and what the essence of the podcast [is], I am the best backchanneller in the business, because politicians speak to me because Iâm not a journalist.
âThey can trust me, because I understand and I empathise with politicians. I even like politicians, and so therefore I was getting material that âIvan, this is your opinion. You didnât hear from meâ, and that was the x factor, the gossipy nature of it.â
Mr Yates said he is not a âFianna FĂĄĂl spin doctorâ and has no involvement in the partyâs strategy.
"Iâm not a Fianna FĂĄil spin doctor, and Iâm relying on my personal integrity to give my independent opinion,â he said.
âIn my view, the issue for me is one of trust. And I have trained, in this context, hundreds of clients, in terms of NGOs, in terms of the public sector, private sector, and they have to rely on the fact that I wonât go blabbing.
âItâs actually been trying [to be] pushed across as the week has gone on, that Iâm a spin doctor for Fianna FĂĄil. I have no involvement in their strategy, no involvement in their policy, or manifesto.
âMy job is like a physio at the last minute to get them match fit. And you know what, isnât it amazing, since this blew up nine days ago, not one other coach has appeared. Why is that? Because they all have confidential relationships.â
He added his departure from the Path to Power podcast had nothing to do with the fact that he coached Jim Gavin.
âI have no plans to set up another podcast. I have a major book coming out next year. I want to see it [Path to Power podcast] succeed. But that is the extent of this, the reality of this. There was no row as far as Iâm concerned,â he said.
He said he wasnât asked by his former podcast co-host, Matt Cooper, or Newstalk whether he was working for any of the presidential campaigns.
âNot that I recall,â he said. âThe answer is no, as far as Iâm concerned, to my best memory.
âI absolutely, as far as Iâm concerned, acted honourably and Iâve broken no rules.â
Speaking on Miriam OâCallaghan and her brother, Minister of Justice Jim OâCallaghan, he said: "If her brother became Taoiseach, it would be an awkward situation.
"Iâm very fond of Miriam, and that is actually a very good example. Is Miriam compromised because her brother is the Minister of Justice? So I rely on Miriamâs integrity that she has a separation in her mind from the love of her brother to the interviewing of her brother.
âThe situation is that anybody Iâve trained is subject to, as far as Iâm concerned, an iron and absolute and enduring rule of client confidentiality.â
He added that he was âtreated like a criminal for doing his jobâ.
âI may have an extra chapter in the book, but the reality of it is, Iâm pretty robust and resilient. Iâm not cocky about it, but Iâm saying absolutely, adamantly, I broke no rules, and in my mind, Iâve done nothing wrong, and any coaching job I have has not compromised my own opinions.â
In relation to his comment to âsmear the bejaysisâ out of president-elect Catherine Connolly during the campaign, he said: âWhat actually happened was the Connolly campaign, in a master stroke, actually implied that this was really Fine Gaelâs smear strategy.
âThe only thing Iâm sorry for in the last three or four weeks, or in the whole period, was that impact. And then what happened last week, Simon Harris comes out saying it was a Fianna FĂĄil smear. Both are complete lies, and the facts show that was to do with my independent opinion.
âMy opinion is the minute Jim exited the race, Catherine Connolly was going to win, and the context in which I made the remarks is that Heatherâs not going to win here,â he added.
David McCullagh kicked off his first show in the new slot this morning by saying; ânew time, new title, and new presenterâ.
The RTĂ broadcaster kicked off his new weekday show, Today with David McCullagh, at 9am this morning.
It comes as the new weekday schedule of the station went live today, with Kieran Cuddihy stepping into the Liveline hotseat later in the afternoon.
The shakeup comes after broadcaster Sarah McInerney stepped down from Drivetime on Friday, along with the departure of Ray DâArcy from The Ray DâArcy Show last month.
McCullagh has taken over the Today⌠programme from Claire Byrne, who announced her move to Newstalk earlier this year.
With no time to waste after the jingle, McCullagh said: âGood morning, and youâre very welcome to the programmeâ.
"New time, new title, new presenter. Weâll be keeping you up to date on all the breaking news, bringing you analysis of all the big stories and giving you insights into all the issues which affect your life,â he added.
Hear interview earlier. He said he had a clear conscience.
âThey (politicians) can trust meââŚ.
Listen, heâs the best back channeller in the business. Show some respect.
Whatever could have given anybody the idea that capitalists want ordinary people to focus their ire on immigrants rather than on capitalists?
