Denis OâBrien can only get in the public eye by moaning about working from home ever since Phil Hogan was ran out of the country for making a bags of the water charges.
Not completely no. But should we re-examine our relationship? Yes .
The single currency is also a disaster for us and other small countries.
The EU is about the German economy mainly. Weâll always be swallowed up by the larger countries in the bloc.
1 Like
Lads donât remember the abject poverty in Ireland before we attracted multi nationals in current numbers. We may well go back to it but leaving the EU would destroy the economy over night.
4 Likes
Beef prices in Ireland have risen significantly over the last two years, particularly in 2025, due to tight supply and strong demand. The average factory price for R3 steers increased from approximately âŹ5.15/kg in 2024 to around âŹ7.09/kg in 2025.
2 Likes
Beef is anything from âŹ20-40 per kilo in retail outlets depending on the cut.
Thereâs some markup between going into the factory and Paddyâs gobâŚ
The Goodman cartel are laughing at us all these years after the tribunalâŚ.
2 Likes
Iâm not sure was there âabject povertyâ before the multi nationals? When are you thinking the 60s say? I donât think people who grew up in council estates or the likes then would see their childhoods as abject poverty
80s. We had 15-18 per cent unemployment and significant emigration. If you drove over border to NI there was a significant difference in our roads. Regular strikes, a few months wait for a phone etc. Iâd wager most lads didnât have a passport or travel on family holidays to Europe.
1 Like
Iâm not wealthy by any means but in comparison to what we as a family have now then I grew up in poverty, my da never had a passport, we had absolutely no disposable income
But in my secondary school weâd have been considered quite well off
1 Like
Who said to leave it? And what ireland was like in 1973 is irrelevant. Times change, you move with them and not stay stuck to a 1973 mindset. You put forward the same mindless argument every time.
The single biggest factor to ireland breaking out of mass unemployment was our ability to control our own currency rates. Fact.
And Thereâs nothing wrong with making moves that are good for ireland as a whole long term. The EU is clearly moving towards a form of corporate capitalism and i dont think thatâs good for anyone. Especially the smaller nations.
Weâre enjoying the fat of multi national companies now but we all know this wont last for forever⌠what then?
Unilateral thinking should be encouraged - not shot down with ⌠1973!
1 Like
@Kyle put up a definition of poverty there a few days ago when he was erroneously telling us a quarter of irish children are experiencing extreme poverty. By his definition Iâd say there would have been a quarter of society in extreme poverty in the 80s.
1 Like
Would you say you grew up in âabject povertyâ though?
Single currency is around 25 years. Weâre 14 years past GFC. Weâve record exchequer returns and no unemployment.
Lads who say it wonât last may well be right but outline what we could do in 2026 if we left Euro tomorrow or stepped away from EU in some way. What tangible steps would you take to improve our economy or ringfence us from the worldâs economic issues that we canât do now.
1 Like
I teach kids who live in âabject povertyâ but they donât think so,
Have we a definition, are we getting bogged down in semantics
1 Like
Here you are @backinatracksuit
Thatâs practically middle class
My dad worked in Fords, he was a drinker, heavy enough, but when the factory shut down, he never drank again, he dug a pit and he used to fix cars in the back garden, so we were able to make ends meet, but I was in school with plenty of lads who werenât so lucky
1 Like
Sorry mate. My hands are tied. Youâll have to talk to the European anti poverty network and the Central statistics office and tell them their indicators are bollox middle class bullshit and our poor arent poor enough for you.
1 Like
Not sure what your point is about single currency? It hasnât been a success for ireland nor have you contradicted my point that the single biggest factor creating the celtic tiger was our ability to control our own currency and unpegging it from the pound. Itâs the single greatest defence mechanism a small country like us can have.
Multinationals have come and gone umpteen times before. They chase profit, not loyalty. In my life Krups and Dell pulling out of Limerick were devastating⌠it will happen again. And weâve firmly put all our eggs in this basket⌠like we did with building before the last crash. Can we not learn?
We need to build a competitive domestic economy that retains strong domestic exports. Weâve pretty much killed fishing and farming at the behest of the EU so they can bring in poison from elsewhere .
We {a wind swept island) can become a European leader in alternative energy. Boosting our own domestic economy in the process. We should be ploughing money into farming tech and selling the fuck out of this and irish produce. But we should also be sinking big money into tech and irish entrepreneurs as a whole and so on⌠we need to be resilient ahead on the next crash which is coming sooner rather than later.
Typically, Youâve taken EU criticism as a doomsday scenario - standard ffg lackey stance. Youâve started talking about ireland in 1973 just like ffg at election time when shoutdown SFâŚ
Ireland needs to be proactive and not have a heads down EU lackey attitude. We can remain within the trading area and enjoy most of the benefits with the political bullshit. We can restore our own currency to safeguard our economy and enjoy better spending power⌠the euro has been a failure on this last part. Ireland has one of the worst spending powers per household under the euro.
4 Likes
OK, youâve gone all serious, fair enough, 
Those indicators probably need an awful lot of fleshing out
I donât really I just thought the phrase was a bit of an exaggeration. That the EU lifted us out of abject poverty like we were living in mud huts. Suppose it all depends what the phrase means to you.
I would have thought i was obviously taking the pissâŚ