I’m surprised I’m quoting this, since we disagree on all matters political, but why do you feel Quinn’s appointment is unjustified?
I’d have rated Quinn as one of the better performers of what is, as of now, a timid and disappointing administration.
Quinn is, to my mind, one of the least left-wing out of the Labour politicans. He had his days in power and proved himself to be little different from FF. He consistently criticises the more “hardline” socialist-leaning members of the party and sees them as a real middle-ground party. He was a safe choice for a Tánaiste who valued a stable coalition above strengthening the party’s working class base. But in terms of appealing to the traditional Labour vote (or new voters from the left) he’s a disaster.
Bottom line is that FG and Lab are fundamentally incompatible from a policy perspective. This particularly gets exposed when required budget cuts and revenue raising forces hard decisions.
The effect this is having on both parties is to split them into pragmatists (i.e. typically those in the minsterial mercs) and idealists (the lefties in Labour and the growing right wing in FG). It would seem that this is more pronounced within labour and if the disaffected rump grows much more it will threaten the viability of the coalition. FG might be able to patch together a minority gov at that stage but it would be so instable as to be next to useless and would likely fall quickly.
At that stage, presented with 4 major parties (FF, FG, SF, LAB) and with LAB very wary as to going back in with either FF or FG it’s very hard to see who would form the next gov.
Ultimately, this might finally split Irish politics into a left-right choice which has been largely absent but it could be a bumpy ride to get there …
[quote=“tallback, post: 715120”]Bottom line is that FG and Lab are fundamentally incompatible from a policy perspective. This particularly gets exposed when required budget cuts and revenue raising forces hard decisions.
The effect this is having on both parties is to split them into pragmatists (i.e. typically those in the minsterial mercs) and idealists (the lefties in Labour and the growing right wing in FG). It would seem that this is more pronounced within labour and if the disaffected rump grows much more it will threaten the viability of the coalition. FG might be able to patch together a minority gov at that stage but it would be so instable as to be next to useless and would likely fall quickly.
At that stage, presented with 4 major parties (FF, FG, SF, LAB) and with LAB very wary as to going back in with either FF or FG it’s very hard to see who would form the next gov.
Ultimately, this might finally split Irish politics into a left-right choice which has been largely absent but it could be a bumpy ride to get there …[/quote]
Would there be many western democratic countries that have never had a ‘left wing’ government similar to the way Ireland hasn’t?
Why do we always elect right wing governments when almost no voter (or even politician hardly) will admit to being right wing.
[quote=“gola, post: 715121”]
Would there be many western democratic countries that have never had a ‘left wing’ government similar to the way Ireland hasn’t?
Why do we always elect right wing governments when almost no voter (or even politician hardly) will admit to being right wing.[/quote]
Yes there would.
[quote=“gola, post: 715121”]
Would there be many western democratic countries that have never had a ‘left wing’ government similar to the way Ireland hasn’t?
Why do we always elect right wing governments when almost no voter (or even politician hardly) will admit to being right wing.[/quote]
The USA.
[quote=“Fagan ODowd, post: 715122”]
Yes there would.[/quote]
It wasn’t actually a rhetorical question I was genuinely wondering which ones? USA seems to be one even if democrats like FDR etc might be seen as slightly left of centre by some would they not?
Why do ya think few people would admit to being right wing or conservative yet we have always elected these types of govts? What happened the cause of labour is the cause of Ireland? Maybe we drove most of the likely socialist voters onto the emigration ships.
[quote=“gola, post: 715124”]
Why do ya think few people would admit to being right wing or conservative yet we have always elected these types of govts? .[/quote]
Because it is not cool and edgy.
Roisin is on Marian on RTE Radio 1 now.
Bit of a whining session to be honest.
Thought she came across well. Dispelled some of myths about the manner and cause of her resignation put out there most likely by Labour hierarchy. They probably came out of it worst of all.
So the developer who owns the land in Balbriggan that Reilly bumped up the list turns out to be a friend and supporter of Reilly. Bit of reaction from Labour backbenchers already. Hard to see how they can still support Reilly but they may feel stupidly committed to it now after sticking by him instead of Shortall.
quinn is as corrupt as they come
he passed funds from woodchester banks to an election campaign and the bank wrote off the loans
one of the things he tried to do when in power was get woodchester to become a third state bank
in summary he is more corrupt than most Fianna failers
surely even the blueshirts cant stand by him
If the labour back benchers don’t swing for him now, they will have lost whatever little bit of credibility they have. This stinks of the worst excesses of the previous regime and if it doesn’t cause some serious problem for FG then something is very wrong.
Interesting that this story has only come out now, you’d think the papers would have been digging for this information since the story first broke a few weeks back.
Someone is running the leaks on this story.
Reilly looks as bad as a stereotypical FF minister at this stage. Mind you the real budget question for him is why nothing has been done about drug purchase costs & alternatives. It has been on the agenda for a couple of years and he has been the boss for 18 months.
[size=5]I’ve had my fun[/size][size=5], that’s all that matters[/size]
![http://img.youtube.com/vi/W4k3hnOTy84/0.jpg[/size]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/W4k3hnOTy84/0.jpg%5B/size%5D){kind=link}
I was just saying the same to the missus. Can’t believe no journalist knew about this for a few weeks. Makes Gilmore and Rabitte look like complete cunts for supporting him. And the angry mob votes a little lefter next time maybe…
Surely Reilly’s position is now untenable. If labour are to have any legitimacy they need to row in behind shortall pretty quickly. However, I imagine both FG and labour are keen not to rock the boat ahead of the EU meetings so this might not get the attention it otherwise would for a while at least.
Reilly is to be questioned on the matter by SF and FF in the Dail today.