@Muhammad McNamara: get yourself some nappys so, can’t get much worse than it is now in Ireland, change is needed and time to give someone else a shot

@Muhammad McNamara: You must be a high earner that enjoys the FF/FG rich-richer and poor-poorer style of government.

@CP: so, single party government it is? Lol

@Muhammad McNamara: couldn’t give a shite once FF/Fg are gone, 100 yrs rule have our country where it is, great little place for the well off but screw the hard working middle class and all the way down

@Mike 100: Where are all the triumphant gobdaws from the previous opinion poll…..

@Mike 100: They didn’t really. It’s just that a lot of their grassroots were yet to figure out that Sinn Fein are a generally pro immigration left wing party when those individuals would be more suited to supporting a right wing party. I doubt many of them even know the difference between left and right wing. The attacks at Parnell square finally brought the issue into focus. But Sinn Fein as are many political parties are adept at altering their position when they see electoral poison coming down the tracks. They have done it with EU membership, corporation tax and the special criminal court. In the meantime you will notice that their representatives just mainly stay quiet on the subject now during debates. In any case the main thing they have going for them is the governments miserable record on housing. The worst thing is that because there is a bit of an uptick I think the current government parties think they are doing a great job. They are detached from reality and needed drastic action which did not come. They will most likely pay for it come election time.

@John Moore: Excellent post A lot of the people voting Sinn Fein are doing so because they aren’t FF, fg. Which is understandable but so many of them are voting for a party whose policies are at variance with what they (the voters) actually want. The number of young people I talk to who intend to vote SF but want the dole and benefits cut, immigrants sent home etc.
For the record I think SF need to be in power after the next election for the sake of democracy in this country.

@John Moore: Don’t forget their miserable record on health, poor record on managing project budgets, scandals, driving public services into the ground because they’ve driven terms and conditions into the ground….etc. how’s getting rid of USC going?!?! That was an election promise a long time ago now.

@Bert Carolan: very true Bert, a lot are voting for SF because they aren’t FF or FG…but that what got us here in the 1st place, a lot of people voting for FF and FG because that how “their family always voted”… I don’t know if SF are the answer either but voting the same parties in term after term because we’re afraid of what the opposition might bring isn’t the answer either!!!

@CP: hilarious to think that SF can form a government without either of the two

@Muhammad McNamara: The Shinner Brigade don’t do maths and are banking on the tooth fairy to give them the numbers!!

@Muhammad McNamara: better start stockpiling toilet paper so

@Mary Toilet: there are other parties also you know, and they could get a good amount of votes next election, be great if they both got the boot to give them a seriously needed reality check

@CP: Chuckling. Other parties won’t have the numbers either, put away your abacus and go to bed, silly Billy lol

@Willie Murphy: It would be interesting to see an age profile of the FF fg supporters, I suspect strong majority over 60.
It’s funny the contradictions in the parties policies. Fg used to be the party of business yet I know so many business people who say that this government is anti business.
Housing a huge issue of course, can SF sort that in a hurry? Health as well, so many vested interests there. There are those who would say that some of our problems are easily fixed. Not so I think.

@Mary Toilet: your lot are good with fiddling numbers with their abacus ok

@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: The USC promise was not clever and was always unrealistic. It was bringing in well over €4bn so was never going to be abolished and certainly not in any short term timeframe. FG were out of power for a long time at that point and were desperate to get back in even though they were a shoe in after the economic crash. They made all sorts of ‘promises’ like going ahead with the metro line that had full planning permission in place (great decision subsequently cancelling that, 20 year further delay and more than tripling of the cost), and universal healthcare (waiting times, numbers on trolleys only went up never mind universal healthcare). It was a case of make the promises even though many were unnecessary, get into office and hope people forget which they generally do. They also tried to bring in water charges clearly with the goal of privatisation of Irish water after the public would have spent billions upgrading the network. Look at how that went in the UK and Denis O’Brien was rubbing his hands at the thought. Again I know all parties do it in terms of promises but it depends on people remembering these things and holding them to account.

@CP: I’d love to see them in power. A couple of years of that will show the non-stop whingers what hardship is really like.
Hint: it’s not just when the WiFi is slow.

@John Mulligan: You tell young people that today and they won’t believe you.

@Mary Toilet: Welcome back Mary Toilet…you must be running out of profiles at this stage. You were replying to your own comments…Ironically disagreeing with what you posted. Sinn Fein Abu.

@Mr Inbetween: the 62% are working

@Muhammad McNamara: Will that be the usual verbal version you spew here????

@John Moore:
” the main thing they have going for them is the governments miserable record on housing”. You can add the imploding state of both the health service and the education system. No school buses for children in rural area’s, along with 600 plus patients on trolleys in A&Es becoming the winter norm. They have spent 100 years enriching the wealthy at the expense of the working class. If people keep voting FFGL, nothing will ever change.

@Mary Toilet: SF are running double the amount of candidates than they did in 2020, because they now know they have the votes. You seem to be forgetting that Leo didn’t pass the line until the fifth count, for MM it took seven counts and neither Donnelly or Harris made the quota after several count’s but were deemed elected. So an unelected politician is running the health service and the same goes for Harris. That’s not democracy, that’s all about looking after their own and keeping the status quo. Shame on them

@Mike 100: Rte with their sub committee who seemingly don’t need to report to the board but can negotiate EXIT packages without any oversight. I’ve never heard of getting an exit package if you volunteer to leave your job. If you are made redundant it’s no problem. We’re being ridden yet again.

@Ann Reddin: you do know how democracy works, right?

@Mary Toilet: Hah, that’s the third time in this article that you’ve forgotten which one of your several accounts you were posting from. Hitting the cans early today Stephen?

@John Moore: Ah that awl chestnut….. Do you know how much income tax we paid last year? Do you know how much it’s grown over the years? From 2016 onwards in billions it was 20.97, 22.08, 23.47, 25.59, 25.19, 29.39, 33.64, 32.9 (high level 2023 figure)…… look at that income tax growth, Vat has also grown especially now with the cost of living. We won’t even mention corporation tax…… Now do you think there is there an argument to abolish USC, considering we got on just fine without it before and all tax receipts have never been higher. They’re also getting about 2 billion in property tax that wasn’t around pre crash.

@CP: pffft..you probably think SF won the last election! Yet somehow they are not in power. The majority support another joint FF FG led govt …

@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: You really need to show the expenditure size to make a valid argument, Health and Education Social Welfare has grown too….

Yes, we are recording surpluses. Look back since 2009, we were in constant deficit, and borrowing was the only way to fund expenditure.

Running a country isn’t a simple exercise, and whoever is in government will not get it right every time nor satisfy the entire population.

The USC will never be abolished by any government it might change its name, like when the health levy at 2% was incorporated into the USC….

@SFmeansShyte4free: lol another FF/Fg bot, seriously the thought of FF/Fg getting the boot really upsets you lot it’s hilarious! got you straight in the feelings did I? Lol speaking the truth must really hurt your brains

@John Moore: Denis made a billion putting in the watermeters.

@CP: not happening so I don’t think about it .. SF will ‘win’ again and be in opposition again .. the poll numbers tell you that

@Muhammad McNamara: that’s upto you what you do with yourself on your own time

@Mr Inbetween: Daft name anyway, can be spotted a mile away! Lol

@Ann Reddin: I have serious doubts that Sinn Fein would be any better. They constantly try to make every issue a points scoring exercise and like I said have changed their positions on a number of things once they saw they would not be electorally popular. When they give out about many of the issues you have listed and are then asked what they would do differently they often stutter or bluster like they werent expecting to be asked which is worrying. I do come back housing and that is their trump card as people are absolutely certain that the current government parties are not going to solve this in any reasonable timeframe so someone else has to be given a chance.

@Cornelius Paul O Mahony: yes I understand that but these lads will just spend it. She scale of the increase in revenue over the few years is massive. Departmental budgets grow because the money is there. They throw money at the problem instead of fixing them. As I said previously, mismanaged projects, mismanaged departments, no accountability…… Etc. what happens when there’s another crash? Will those budgets reduce by much? Tax payer gets hit up again.

@Muhammad McNamara: I can recommend a good prostate test for that complaint .

@Muhammad McNamara: Perhaps you should be asking about the Billions taken from the Irish economy to repay for the gangsterism of the banks and developers facilated by the same political parties that are again in power. You seen to have no problem concerning a Housing crisis, Rental crisis, Homelessness, Crumbling Health service, A make it up as you go along refugee crisis, Vulture companies that run riot . You certainly won’t get a house with the rental or otherwise under FFG / Greens.

@DGQ: as long as I torment you, that’s enough, lol

@DGQ: looks he forgot which profile to answer you with.

@CP: yes, I am a man

@Seanie: Imagine if he sadly developed dementia, hundreds of imaginary friends in his mind starting fights.

@Donal Desmond: off you go, to Venezuela

@Mr Inbetween: I think he’d need a brain though.

@Mary Toilet: wrong account Mary, your losing it, you might want to switch back to your Muhammad profile cause that’s who i commented and said ,” says yer man” to. You just proved to everyone there your on multiple accounts. Pathetic

@Mary Toilet: Hey Muhammed, wrong account. LOL.

@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Ah stop….you would never catch a shinner in a compromising position!!!!

@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: if you want to go down that line, SF leader apparently wasn’t aware what one of her Dublin councillors got up to.

@Kevin O Brien: your mother definitely should have swallowed

@Mary Toilet: LOL x 100, you’ve forgotten what account your using again, you should write them all down, your leaking yourself look even dafter than you are.

@Kevin O Brien: You conveniently forgot to mention the good republicans also associated with this case.

@Mary Toilet: Muhammed, What does Muhammed have to say on this?

@Frank Cauldhame: There’s little point in voting for the past. Yes, it’s a natural human thing to do. It’s the future we should be concerned with.
Each party will release their aspirations or lies, and we will vote for those who we deem to be the lesser of two evils.

As I said, no one party will gain an overall majority, so even those who you don’t vote for will probably be in coalition or hold the balance of power in a minority government.

Ideally a national Government would be better option but that’s just my opinion.

@Cornelius Paul O Mahony: credit Unions Ireland offered to provide the required funding internally, €90 billion worth. In conjunction with public ownership of vast land banks at IRSB/Nama. A bit of social economic thinking would have kept builders at home, provided social and affordable housing and avoided this crisis. But that was not in the FFG plans to commodify housing for maximum profit. Trevelyan would be probs if their free market policies.

@M Bowe: And where would the CUs get the funds from? Members savings today are about 17bn, and it would have been against the CU legislation 1997, and rules of the movement.

Additionally I doubt a majority of the members in each individual CU would not have voted for it , around 450 CUs in Ireland then

Where would NAMA have gotten the money? it was essentially set up as a bad bank, and its initial remit was to manage out construction debt with funding from the Troika.

There’s no way the CUs nor were in a position to do anything.

@Cornelius Paul O Mahony: Spot on comment. It’s very easy to criticise the government for the housing crisis but it was a very complicated and mixed set of circumstances which brought about our current difficulties. Unfortunately, the loudest complainers havn’t the patience, intelligence or compulsion to examine it in detail. It’s easier to just rant and rant and rant!! If anyone thinks that sf would be capable of resolving it then they are deluded. I would be amazed if they could even attain 50% of this years housing outputs after they introduce their childish destructive policies!!

@chris gaffney: Mary you’ve posted to the wrong troll account again, if you was real I’d bate the hole off of ya.

@chris gaffney: Correct, it was a hugely complicated issue, and despite the general narrative of easily fixable, it wasn’t .
It did cause a lot of hurt and nearly destroyed the country, and that not difficult to forget.

We weren’t the only country that this happened to, but reading and researching most countries have moved on. Banking has changed globally and easy money isn’t given out and as the Central Bank said last week the recent increases in interest rates hasn’t affected the economic or housing market negatively, of course this is a macro view, there are plenty of people struggling

The narrative, especially by the opposition, has to be negative.

Net household wealth in Ireland is over €trillion that’s assets less liabilities €180bn is household savings. Not a peep about this.

@Frank Cauldhame: mehole himself said it,he stands in solidarity with the homeless, that should be enough sounds like they’re taking action on it and increasing immigration,problem solved.

@SYaxJ2Ts: I wouldn’t say sympathetic. I would say they understand what they stood for the same as a jaffa understood what the British army stood for.
Thankfully its all over and the majority have moved on as time went by. It’s a pity that the both sides in the current war we are not allowed comment on would do the same. Senseless killing in all fairness.

@David Corrigan: the IRA stood for indiscriminate murder and sectarianism. There was nothing noble about it. So people who you euphemistically say “understand this” do not get my vote.

@SYaxJ2Ts: Like I said, thank God the British got the memo and decided to come to the table to discuss and give us the GFA. Those darks days are gone for ever.

@David Corrigan: not just the British, but the IRA and Loyalists too. The hero’s to me are the moderates and peacemakers like John Hume and George Mitchell. SF will never get my vote.

@SYaxJ2Ts: Those guys did great work in fairness.

@Paul: If you want to ask rape victims anything, then you should be talking to the victims of the Church.

All of which happened under the watchful eyes of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

@Paul: have you any proven convictions to tell the readers or maybe your mixing it up with the fianna fail Bill Kinneally case in waterford or the Mary Boyle cover up case in Donegal or the Fine gael top brass Sunday world photos with da crystal meth accused importer in Cork

@Paul: pathetic.

@CP: Country ruined ? Get real

@Sheila McNulty: well it’s not exactly great at the moment Sheila is it, I don’t need to blab on about the current state of our health system and housing etc etc etc do I. Might be ok for you but not the majority

@Muhammad McNamara: Hi Mary.

@Sheila McNulty: some come back sheila …

@Gregory C Donoghue: nope just a true Irish republican looking forward to the day you lot get what you deserve, say goodbye to FF/Fg lol lol lol lol

@DGQ: I am not an ‘FFGer’, and have not said any of those things. I’m responsible only for myself.

@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: ould Mary isn’t the fizzyest drink in the fridge

@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Fianna Fail – the soldiers of the erect male member – would go into coalition with the divil himself to gain power.

@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: We live in hope!!

@chris gaffney: Mary, you be posting from the wrong account again, did someone slip a roofie in your drink?

@Mr Inbetween: Disgusting

@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Name one no confidence motion that has been past in the last 30 yrs…….its a nonsense and a waste of time.

Politicians will vote for themselves ie to stay in power