Fine Gael was the favoured party of conservative Catholics. Fianna Fail was home to more amoral rogues.
As a vote getter it was dying off in the 1980s.
FF lost 24% of their vote in 2011, that was the dramatic moment. In truth though they were slipping before that and had formed a different kind of coalition of voters:
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Hereâs what you said Tim. The deal Bertie did came pretty much out of the blue if you recall at the time and put the state on the hook for all wrongdoing. I think thats significant evidence of the link between ff and the church in the 2000s
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I was referring to it being a vote grabber.
There was a flurry of referendums on social matters in the 1980s and early 1990s with these issues largely subsiding then.
Meanwhile FFâs voting base was shifting. They lost share in the early 1990s and focused in on social partnership etc. Ultimately they became an economy first party which basically mirrored wider society. Iâm not suggesting that Catholic conservatism wasnât part of the ethos- thatâs obvious. What Iâm saying is that 2011 is the critical point and I donât see anything dramatic in 2026.
Iâd say he called them hooves.
And everyone used praise her ex husbands exact same body part and all
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Someone pick Barrett up off the floor
Martin tore him a new one there.
This triple lock thing should be interesting when they try to pass it past the president.
I expect her to put the boot in.
Should be great fun.
All she can do is refer it to the supreme Court. I donât think she will as thereâs nothing remotely unconstitutional about it.
It will drive the Putin Before Profit cranks wild.
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She has previously stated that itâs at the core of Irish Neutrality. Perhaps she can force a referendum on it. I wouldnât be an expert on these matters. But looking forward to the debate none the less. Itâs probably the main reason I voted for her.
Usually the first port of call is the Council of State. Itâs only met 31 times since the 1937 constitution came into effect. The last time was only a few weeks ago when the President sought and got advice on the International Protection bill/act which she signed without going to the Supreme Court. Will be interesting to see it play out. The only controversy I know of was in the mid 70s with Cearbhaill Ă DĂĄlaigh and the Emergency Powers Bill which he eventually signed after referring it to the Supreme Court. This of course led to the âthundering effing disgraceâ remark from Paddy Donegan, the then Minster for Defence(? I think, might be justice)
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Will do. As an aside the rest is history current series is excellent. Just started the submarine episode.
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Lusitania was as big a story at the time as the Titanic was and for many years after according to Dominic,
Obviously the Cork connections helped 
Thatâs pretty accurate, in fairness. It was oft-reported that the exact quote from Donegan was that the referral was the âwork of a thundering idiot and a fucking disgraceâ which was somewhat bowdlerised in official channels immediately thereafter.
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Iâve heard it said from people who knew him (though theyâd be Blueshirts in the main) that OâDalaigh was a quixotic character. He was haughty and rude and spoke in French whenever possible. He probably should have stayed as Chief Justice as that suited his personality better.
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Close enough here. Danny now being manoeuvred to the side.