Ireland politics (Part 3)

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.

It’s almost like he’s outsourced his brain functioning to the manufacturing consent mob.

There was a poster like that here before called Labane1917.

It’s surely higher… you have to allow for trafficked persons but given we are an island I’d 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 “look over there”.

The same is very much true now of this framing of asylum seekers as “a problem”. It’s a campaign of demonisation driven by fascist billionaires’ 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 don’t live in the real world.

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What does military age males have to do with anything? What age is that? Can females not join the military?

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:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:yes

First off, I’m 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 SF’s base. This was calculated. Now that it erodes their base it’s an issue and I’m happy to see them called out.

As for the numbers game… it’s 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 weren’t really refugees and then taking another 7 years to assess them :grinning:. A broken outdated system with the Ukrainian crisis dumped on top of it is largely the issue…but we must also recognise that the population has grown sharply over the last 5 or so years. Migrants/ refugees/ returning Irish…a 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 Europe’s burden are we willing to take while getting our own shit together.

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That’s an awful lot of effort to write a load of vague, meaningless, cliché-ridden waffle that adds precisely nothing.

Will anybody read this heartfelt post

  • Yes
  • No
0 voters
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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 :open_mouth:

You just know people aren’t 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

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You aul rogue

LATEST |

‘My golden rule is client confidentiality… and I wanted to leave the podcast with Matt Cooper’ – Ivan Yates on Jim Gavin controversy

David McCullagh hosts first show on new RTÉ 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 “golden rule” in his media training business endeavour is “client confidentiality”.

Speaking as the first guest on David McCullagh’s new show on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Yates addressed the Jim Gavin controversy after it was revealed by the Irish Independent that he coached former Fianna Fáil presidential candidate Jim Gavin while also acting as a political commentator.

When asked by McCullagh why he didn’t 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: “Straightforward question, straightforward answer.”

“I left full-time broadcasting in July 2020, when I set up this, amongst other businesses that I’ve set up in relation to public affairs and coaching, I had a golden rule, and that was client confidentiality.

“And in the same way, if you’re 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 Fáíl wanted to talk about it, fine, I’m not going to talk about it.

Ivan Yates. Photo: Mark Condren

Today’s News in 90 Seconds - Monday, November 10th

"As it happened with Jim, it combusted. Let’s 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,” he added.

After his former podcast co-host, Matt Cooper, described the controversy as a “breach of trust” to the Path to Power podcast audience, Mr Yates said he doesn’t agree with this statement.

He also claimed he wanted to leave the podcast anyway.

Read more

“I 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.

“I’ve been looking to get off of this. I actually sent texts to people saying that I’m so relieved because I tell you what I’m 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 I’m not a journalist.

“They can trust me, because I understand and I empathise with politicians. I even like politicians, and so therefore I was getting material that ‘Ivan, this is your opinion. You didn’t hear from me’, and that was the x factor, the gossipy nature of it.”

Mr Yates said he is not a “Fianna Fáíl spin doctor” and has no involvement in the party’s strategy.

"I’m not a Fianna Fáil spin doctor, and I’m relying on my personal integrity to give my independent opinion,” he said.

“In 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 won’t go blabbing.

“It’s actually been trying [to be] pushed across as the week has gone on, that I’m a spin doctor for Fianna Fáil. I have no involvement in their strategy, no involvement in their policy, or manifesto.

“My job is like a physio at the last minute to get them match fit. And you know what, isn’t it amazing, since this blew up nine days ago, not one other coach has appeared. Why is that? Because they all have confidential relationships.”

He added his departure from the Path to Power podcast had nothing to do with the fact that he coached Jim Gavin.

“I 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 I’m concerned,” he said.

He said he wasn’t asked by his former podcast co-host, Matt Cooper, or Newstalk whether he was working for any of the presidential campaigns.

“Not that I recall,” he said. “The answer is no, as far as I’m concerned, to my best memory.

“I absolutely, as far as I’m concerned, acted honourably and I’ve broken no rules.”

Speaking on Miriam O’Callaghan and her brother, Minister of Justice Jim O’Callaghan, he said: "If her brother became Taoiseach, it would be an awkward situation.

"I’m 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 Miriam’s integrity that she has a separation in her mind from the love of her brother to the interviewing of her brother.

“The situation is that anybody I’ve trained is subject to, as far as I’m concerned, an iron and absolute and enduring rule of client confidentiality.”

He added that he was “treated like a criminal for doing his job”.

“I may have an extra chapter in the book, but the reality of it is, I’m pretty robust and resilient. I’m not cocky about it, but I’m saying absolutely, adamantly, I broke no rules, and in my mind, I’ve done nothing wrong, and any coaching job I have has not compromised my own opinions.”

In relation to his comment to “smear the bejaysis” out of president-elect Catherine Connolly during the campaign, he said: “What actually happened was the Connolly campaign, in a master stroke, actually implied that this was really Fine Gael’s smear strategy.

“The only thing I’m 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 Fáil smear. Both are complete lies, and the facts show that was to do with my independent opinion.

“My 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 Heather’s not going to win here,” he added.

New show

David McCullagh kicked off his first show in the new slot this morning by saying; “new time, new title, and new presenter”.

The RTÉ 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 D’Arcy from The Ray D’Arcy 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: “Good morning, and you’re very welcome to the programme”.

"New time, new title, new presenter. We’ll 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,” he added.

Hear interview earlier. He said he had a clear conscience.

Ryan Gosling Reaction GIF

“They (politicians) can trust me”….

I Dont Believe You Will Ferrell GIF

Listen, he’s the best back channeller in the business. Show some respect.

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Whatever could have given anybody the idea that capitalists want ordinary people to focus their ire on immigrants rather than on capitalists?