Leo Varadkar

[farmerinthecity]

There is no doubt that Paschal is the best man for the job.

It appears that Harris has been planning this from well back and Paschal hasn’t. Which means he has considerable ground to make up. He’ll probably decide that its not worth the hassle and let Harris have it.

[Kyle]

Wha? I’ve been anti FG all my life

[Horsebox]

So we are looking at Simon Harris, Pascal Donohue, Micheal Martin or Mary Lou running the country for the next 4 years. And here was me laughing at the US picking between Trump and Biden. At the end of the day I suppose the older you get you realise anyone involved in politics is either an absolute cunt or a massive weirdo.

[Fagan_ODowd]

@tallback

I just think Pascal would be a better man for the job. More intelligent, more capable, sensible. He’s not as good at the glad-handing as Harris though so he prob won’t get it (or even contest it). I think that will be to both the country’s and FG’s detriment.

I find Paschal to be a cold enough owl fish. I was behind him in the queue for the bar at Leonard Cohen a few years ago and I found his demeanor to be shifty. I also find his desire to be seen as the most intelligent boy in the class by regularly writing reviews of 1300 page books for The Irish Times while allegedly also having a huge workload as Minister for Finance a touch grating.

[glasagusban]

I find it incredibly impressive that he reads such books and has very coherent responses to them and goes and writes them down in reviews in a very accessible way.

[tallback]

@Fagan_ODowd

@tallback

I just think Pascal would be a better man for the job. More intelligent, more capable, sensible. He’s not as good at the glad-handing as Harris though so he prob won’t get it (or even contest it). I think that will be to both the country’s and FG’s detriment.

I find Paschal to be a cold enough owl fish. I was behind him in the queue for the bar at Leonard Cohen a few years ago and I found his demeanor to be shifty. I also find his desire to be seen as the most intelligent boy in the class by regularly writing reviews of 1300 page books for The Irish Times while allegedly also having a huge workload as Minister for Finance a touch grating.

We surely don’t want a book-reading intelligent Taoiseach anyway.

Where’s Bertie and the like when you need them

[Heyyoubehindthebushes]

In all fairness i dont think leo gave a toss about Palestine. He knows the irish peoples feelings on this and probably told Joe well ahead that i need to be seen to make statements to you fpr political gain back home, by not doing it FFG will be in trouble. Ireland is an outlier in the west for the open support of Palestine due to the common causes in the republican movement etc. Although the world is turning the irish public have always been ahead of it. Leo playing politics not to ruffle too much feathers at home

[Fagan_ODowd]

@glasagusban

I find it incredibly impressive that he reads such books and has very coherent responses to them and goes and writes them down in reviews in a very accessible way.

I’d find it more impressive if he kept it to himself. There’s a real look at me vibe off of it.

[the_man_himself]

Well sure why would he bother then if he was quitting a few days later

[myboyblue]

@Horsebox

So we are looking at Simon Harris, Pascal Donohue, Micheal Martin or Mary Lou running the country for the next 4 years. And here was me laughing at the US picking between Trump and Biden. At the end of the day I suppose the older you get you realise anyone involved in politics is either an absolute cunt or a massive weirdo.

As usual, you’ve nailed it mate.

[Fagan_ODowd]

@Heyyoubehindthebushes

In all fairness i dont think leo gave a toss about Palestine. He knows the irish peoples feelings on this and probably told Joe well ahead that i need to be seen to make statements to you fpr political gain back home, by not doing it FFG will be in trouble. Ireland is an outlier in the west for the open support of Palestine due to the common causes in the republican movement etc. Although the world is turning the irish public have always been ahead of it. Leo playing politics not to ruffle too much feathers at home

I think FG and FF are between a rock and a hard place over Palestine. SF have long had being Pro Palestine as being a plank of their policy and public opinion has come around to them in the year before an election. As a consequence FFG have had to be far more Pro Palestine than they would like to be for domestic political reasons to the point where we are a bit of an outlier internationally, certainly in EU terms and to the point where it may damage inward investment from the US.

[myboyblue]

@glasagusban

I find it incredibly impressive that he reads such books and has very coherent responses to them and goes and writes them down in reviews in a very accessible way.

This is what you’re dealing with in the current generation lads.

[Heyyoubehindthebushes]

For FG optics, unless the quitting was more sudden

[Bandage]

@tallback

I just think Pascal would be a better man for the job. More intelligent, more capable, sensible. He’s not as good at the glad-handing as Harris though so he prob won’t get it (or even contest it). I think that will be to both the country’s and FG’s detriment.

With the way polling is trending, I wonder if we’re on the way to some kind of minority government being required next time out. I’m not even sure FF + SF + AN Other would command enough votes.

For all SF’s efforts to present themselves as a progressive, left wing, all inclusive, all singing & dancing, viable alternative, their polling numbers are dwindling despite them making the challenging housing situation almost their sole focus. I think that’s largely because c.20%-30% of their heretofore core support are low intellect, tricolour waving, Ireland for the Irish, anti-immigration, “this country has gone to the dogs”, angry snowflake headbangers like @Kyle.

This cohort are making a lot of noise & you’ll probably see more populist independent lunatics commanding support, given how the political climate is going for the reasons eloquently described by @Cheasty elsewhere on the forum. As @Horsebox says, leadership debates between Harris, Martin & McDonald are unlikely to capture the average voter’s imagination either.

To partly offset that there’ll always be enough wokesters like myself & @Gary_Birtles_Lovechi to vote in a handful of Soc Dem, Labour & soft, harmless Independent types. And support for the Greens won’t fall off a cliff, even though boggers want to continue poisoning the air & land, & strongly resent them for not tacitly supporting these efforts. You’ll have the hard left gang hanging onto a few seats too.

I think you could have both FF & FG losing seats, SF’s gains not getting near the 60 they might have anticipated, say, 18-24 months ago & then a mish mash of the smaller parties & different strands of Independents.

[Heyyoubehindthebushes]

Yeah i agree completely both FF and FG European alignments are pro isreal, they are threading water really to save face with the irish public as it is a hot topic here

SF were very quite on the topic in the US last week, even the irish americans would be more pro isreal than align woth the wromg type of terrorist. SF/IRA good, Arabs terrorist fairly black and white to a majority i suspect

[flattythehurdler]

Speaking of books, Casement I’ve always found a haunting character, with an unnecessary end.

Broken Archangel by Roland Philipps review – Roger Casement’s unquiet ghost

[Fagan_ODowd]

@Bandage

@tallback

I just think Pascal would be a better man for the job. More intelligent, more capable, sensible. He’s not as good at the glad-handing as Harris though so he prob won’t get it (or even contest it). I think that will be to both the country’s and FG’s detriment.

With the way polling is trending, I wonder if we’re on the way to some kind of minority government being required next time out. I’m not even sure FF + SF + AN Other would command enough votes.

For all SF’s efforts to present themselves as a progressive, left wing, all inclusive, all singing & dancing, viable alternative, their polling numbers are dwindling despite them making the challenging housing situation almost their sole focus. I think that’s largely because c.20%-30% of their heretofore core support are low intellect, tricolour waving, Ireland for the Irish, anti-immigration, “this country has gone to the dogs”, angry snowflake headbangers like @Kyle.

This cohort are making a lot of noise & you’ll probably see more populist independent lunatics commanding support, given how the political climate is going for the reasons eloquently described by @Cheasty elsewhere on the forum. As @Horsebox says, leadership debates between Harris, Martin & McDonald are unlikely to capture the average voter’s imagination either.

To partly offset that there’ll always be enough wokesters like myself & @Gary_Birtles_Lovechi to vote in a handful of Soc Dem, Labour & soft, harmless Independent types. And support for the Greens won’t fall off a cliff, even though boggers want to continue poisoning the air & land, & strongly resent them for not tacitly supporting these efforts. You’ll have the hard left gang hanging onto a few seats too.

I think you could have both FF & FG losing seats, SF’s gains not getting near the 60 they might have anticipated, say, 18-24 months ago & then a mish mash of the smaller parties & different strands of Independents.

I’d suspect with Leo gone an SF/FG coalition has become more possible

[Bandage]

I dunno, I can certainly picture a little snooty-headed Harris posturing on telly about not going into government with a party whose leader is elected by shadowy figures in Belfast bar rooms.

[Bisto]

I find Pascal the most authentic out of all of them . There seems to be a decency to him.

[glasagusban]

@Fagan_ODowd

There’s a real look at me vibe off of it.

From a politician? Get out.