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FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER Simon Coveney has responded to questions around whether he felt guilty over the country’s stance on Brexit, by saying that assurances were needed from the British government before negotiations could continue.
Coveney was speaking to Sky News presenter Adam Boulton after a deal was struck between the UK and the EU this morning.
The deal saw British Prime Minister Theresa May guarantee that there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland following Brexit.
The deal follows weeks of tense negotiations between all sides, with the UK wanting to move onto other issues, but Ireland and the EU insisting that this matter be addressed first.
Commenting on the deal, Sky News’ Adam Boulton asked Coveney if all the back and forth had been necessary, and if he felt at all guilty over what had happened.
He also referenced a deal that was almost reached around the issue on Monday, only for it to be scuppered when the UK withdrew its support after it became apparent that the Northern Irish DUP would not back it.
“Do you think that this week’s kerfuffle has been necessary? Do you feel slightly guilty that perhaps the Irish government over-briefed what had been achieved as a victory over the British for the European Union?” Boulton asked Coveney.
That [then] provoked the DUP and if you had been a bit more straightforward about a practical agreement at the beginning we wouldn’t have had these four days of turmoil.
Coveney responded that that may have been the briefing on the British side, but that the Irish position had been clear.
“I mean we never looked for or claimed any victory over anybody,” Coveney said.
“We have been saying for many months now that we want to work with the British government to try to find a way forward that can reassure people in Ireland as well as in the UK that we can manage Brexit and we can limit damage in the way that’s now in this agreement,” he said.
Coveney said that had always been the Irish government’s position.
“Yes of course there’s been some friction because many people have been saying, ‘look we don’t need and don’t want to give those assurances right now, we’ll deal with these issues in phase two’.
“The Irish government’s response has always been that for us that’s like a jump into the dark.
We don’t know where we’re going to land, we don’t know whether we’re going to have unintended consequences and we need basic reassurance that actually certain things will not happen under any circumstances when we move onto phase two.
He went on to list the various assurances that were needed: among them that there will be no return to a hard border on the island; that the Good Friday Agreement will be protected; and that the Common Travel Area between the two nations will be upheld.
He said those assurances had not been given.
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polling journal.ie users is very likely to give a skewed result since we are probably more technology friendly than perhaps older generations who are more dependant on tv for their entertainment.
I got rid of my TV from my flat because I couldn’t afford the TV license and the free-view. For about 2 weeks I had withdrawal symptoms but rediscovered the joy of reading. For years I was an avid reader but tailed off to watch TV because it was so convenient. Now I am reading so much that I forget about whats on the box. I still enjoy going home to my parents and catching up on whats on Sky and enjoy the brief escapism but I still think that there is nothing better than reading a good book and using your imagination to create the car chases. the laughter, the suspense and the adventure.
A better question would be to ask could people live without TV Programmes. as many here said they watch TV online. These shows are produced by TV companies therefore to say you don’t watch TV is disingenuous
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Jon I didn’t say that I don’t watch TV, it’s just that I don’t watch so much of it. I do enjoy watching various programs and like to keep up with the news and such like. My point is that for years neglected reading and learning for myself because it was so much easier to sit down and get someone else to do the work for me. I still like to go home and watch the box with a range of viewing from the Discovery Channel to Family Guy! TV does serve a very good purpose in that it helps people to relax after a hard days work or inform them about what is going on around them. Now that I have got rid of my TV in the flat I now have time to go through the backlog of reading that I have being saying for years that “I must read that some time”.
Hi Brian, Sorry that post was not supposed to a direct reply to you but a comment of it’s own (1st time posting a comment). Your post is quite clear, my reference was in general to people who watch tv online but believe there is somehow a difference than watching a normal tv.
I do all my tv show viewing online, I can’t remember the last time I actually sat down and watched television.
I’m the same but if I do happen to watch a TV show I’m reminded of the frequency and absurdity of the bloody adverts! Which only reinforces my opinion that TV is crap.
Only thing worth watching on live t.v is football or boxing . All films and t.v program s are online ad free. P.s r.t.e is an abomination of a channel . They will have some documentary on soon enough i becth you trying to say were actually winners given away all our oil. Propaganda t.v
Watch bbc then or record what you want to watch and skip through the adds. Television is a necessity in this country because of the appalling weather
I cant watch anything on a computer screen, has to be hooked up to the telly
No way, I love TV especially RTE & it’s wonderful cutting edge shows, my only complaint is they refuse to bring back ‘mart to market’ which was compulsive viewing & class TV.
And mailbag
Ah yes..memories of black&white film clips of men in brown work coats ,flat caps and wellies beating the ar~es of cows in rings around the country.Now ,thats REAL RTE entertainment!
And a glorious Radharc documentary about tin whistle making.
Can’t wait for Wanderly Wagon HD.
In fairness, Winning Streak is top quality. They say Marty Whelan takes a yoke before every show, which explains why he talks for minutes without breathing and makes everyone feel painfully uncomfortable.
I will admit I have a soft spot for Winning Streak. It’s my secret shame.
It’s everything that’s right and wrong with Irish television at the same time.
I watch Netflix now more often than regular tv, but I have my laptop connected to the TV with a HDMI cable….so while I may not be tuning into regular tv, I still need the actual television as a medium to watch it on!
Exactly!! I watched Brave last night through this method rather than on the small laptop screen
Iv a 500K external hard drive plugged directly into my 42inch tv, hundreds of movies n tv shows at my finger tips! Use HDMI for streaming Skysports off skygo on my lappy! Love technology
I can only get rte and I don’t or won’t pay a licence fee until they change the shi*te they have on it
I have a TV but only the XBOX connected to it. No UPC or Sky or saorview. All online viewing.
You are part of the future Dave. Scheduled TV is history.
I could certainly live without RTE and it’s daily diet of government spin and Property/Bondholder Tax propaganda
Ya who needs tv’s nowadays anyway when uv iPhones, laptops, tablets…
@mary Carroll,I’d gladly watch you all nite :-)) haha
^^^^^ stalker ^^^^^
Creepy Stalker :p
Ders always one :)
Jee’s take a chill pill will ye’s,it was a joke
:)
TV has been dead in water for a couple of years now. Online TV providers and YouTube channels give people more choice.
Only a handful of shows I watch live on TV, the rest online. I know it’s not an option for everyone though.
Not had a TV for 6 years. Not missed it once.
I could live without my TV.
However what I would miss most is the look of total blankness on every Irish politicians face when they are being interviewed. You just know that some civil servant or PR consultant has told them what to answer.
I watch my TV most nights for arond 2 hours ,I never watch soaps or football,the radio is my favourite.
Yes, but not without my stable Internet connection!
I watch all my tv on my Apple TV,then stream everything thru my phone,going to watch iron man 3 later :-))
No. Just cant live without discovery and ps3.
Some day future generations will look back on scheduled programming and think it’s absurd (I already do). T.v. stations as we know them are going the way of the dodo as younger generations replace the old. Years ago I used to think having a big t.v. was important but a small laptop screen is my preferred option these days.
Do all you folks saying no not have a computer console or enjoy watching sports??
I literally have not used my tv since before Christmas. I dont miss it, nor do I want it. Free tv anyone : )
Havent had a telly in ten years and never will again. The only thing I miss is the girl with the needle in her lip just before the Angelus.
My tv got smashed during a burglary back in November, I thought my life was gonna end; it took nearly 6 month for the insurance money to come through. Cancelled my sky etc in the mean time. Got my new tv 3 weeks ago and I think I’ve switched on about twice since getting it. I don’t miss any of the crap I used to watch. Streaming stuff is only brilliant
How TV Ruined Your Life > http://youtu.be/7T4YTtMxbzk …
Charlie Brooker – absolute genius. I was 2 feet away from him once. Nearly fainted in geek worship.
We need one decent channel. There’s no need for them to repeat the English soaps and they can cancel all that cack like the lyrics board and the celebrity circle jerks. Max salary of 150k.
If the tv licence goes up much more, I’ll move to online providers and the laptop
Got rid of my tv almost 12 months ago. Surviving without it no problem. No desire to get another. See modern programming for the sham it is. There is life after the hypnotic glow box is gone.
I have an ipad, iPhone and a desktop computer and NO I couldn’t live without my big screen tv ….
Only time I watch telly is too see the news . Everything else I stream online . Never had a telly in my room .
I’m with those who use their TV as a conduit for online streaming. Very rarely watch “live” TV anymore.
A hint by the way- check out mediahint.com It’s a free VPN which you download to your Internet browser (chrome especially) and you can watch the US Netflix and BBC iplayer. I stream it to me telly using Apple TV. Awesome.
How do you stream content to your Apple TV that’s not through iTunes.
Using Airplay from my iPhone, iPad or MacBook (Applehead-moi?:-))
Alas AirPlay mirroring via pre 2011 macs does not work.
Justin – you can build yourself an XBMC media centre for under €100. XBMC has a beautiful interface, plays just about everything, gives you rich displays of all your local media and there are a load pf plug-ins that allow stream movies, live TV etc, (mainly pirated). I built mine on a Raspberry PI. Also has Airplay and unpn.
TV is the number 1 place to watch sport.
In regards to TV shows it’s just so much more convenient to watch series whenever and wherever you feel like it.
Bloody addiction I wish I could kick
My large telly isn’t connected to the aerial or any form of receiver. I only have it so I don’t have to watch films or play fallout on a small laptop screen.
I could happily live without sky as most shows are online but as a gamer I need the actual television set. Plus when I watch a show online I normally connect the laptop to the telly and watch that way.
I use the tv because the xbox is connected to it, and thats only a glorified DVD player really. Saorview is all I have and poveRTE is still rubbish in HD. Once the fixed line broadband is installed the above will be donated to a club or something like that and I’ll view everything online.
If you voted, tv inspectors will visit you soon!
I have a tv with no channels, does that count? Just use it for DVDs and gaming! The channels are crap, hundreds of them and not a single thing to watch!
Live without a tv – most definitely….
Live without my stable 30mb wireless broadband and my tablet – not a bloody hope would I last 5 minutes!
Remeber losing my connection for 2 hours one afternoon. It felt like the world was ending and I was going to be the last to know.
It never dawned on me to check the news on the telly.
It was a very scary and confusing time in my life!
I should thank John McGuire of “I’m an adult, get me outta here” for inspiring me to ditch TV. Six years without now and no regrets.
I could alright do without it but honestly I just don’t want to!! And I know for a fact that without telly the family would be a lot happier…!
Don’t have TV anymore! I miss it but surviving without it. In withdrawal. But wondering why I am still paying my TV license.
Streaming won’t work for us as the broadband connections in our area are not great. Our internet service constantly fails. Only for that we would probably get rid of the TV.
Try live in a country with practically no English . You don’t miss what you can’t have
Not surprising, most people are telly addicts
I watch most shows online now do I could
I wouldn’t totally agree with the last sentence. I think more and more people are turning away from their computer screens and figuring out how to hook up their Internet content to their TVs – whether that’s HTPC’s, streaming boxes like Apple TV etc or just connecting their laptops. Broadcast TV as we know it is alive and kicking it’s just that we are not all watching according to their schedule and they no longer have exclusivity on our screens.
Don’t look at much now thanks to the power of the Internet I look at most of my telly stuff on the laptop I can a lot more shows tht I like to at instead of the sh1t that rte shows
Yes but only while I have a job.
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