The liar,when you’ve lost confidence in the public get your coat and hope the door doesn’t hit too hard on the way to Berlin.

@Adrienne Kelly:

Brexit is slightly more serious than Sgt McCabe. Let’s play the ball not the man.

Fred actually both are serious. Maurice McCabe must be delighted with your empathy

Let’s be honest here, Enda and his party have minus interest in a united Ireland.

Fred Jensen. No Brexit is not more important. Where the state tries to blacken an honest man’s name
Very Senior Gardai have lied through their teeth to cover up wrong doing. The makings of a dictatorship.

I agree. How can an “EU Yes Man”like Kenny look after our interest. He is too interested in plaudits and pats on the head from the Brussels Euro federalises and has a ridiculously high opinion of his own abilities. He is Removed from reality and Living in a politician bubble of his own Ego and self preservation !

Last thing FG need or indeed FF need is tens upon tens of thousands of SF voters flooding the market. That would upset the apple cart.

Sinn Fein, aaa pbp while strong on here are not credible

Never been tested. What’s gone before us has failed us.

Same old unless people go out and vote for change. Simple.

@Fred Jensen: Brexit is not our issue right now. What is our issue is the corruption with the powers that be in our own public sector. If we do not have our own house in order then what chance have we got of making a negative into a positive elsewhere. Comments like that are whats wrong with our country. How about looking after our fellow citizen first. Mr McCabe deserves our support. Each and every one of us. He stuck his neck out for justice. We should embrace that and stand up.

Any one notice the pat on the back Juncker gave him after? A real ‘ good jelly fish… there’s a good jelly fish’ kinda kudos

@gregory: why the belief in ff/fg ? you know they are corrupt right?
think for yourself just like the people who support the parties sf, pbp,aaa
fdi will continue as will making the economy stronger be emphasised, but enriching certain “friends” and selling our assets will not be allowed, whats the catch? cabinet members not wearing suits? having a strong local accent?

@Alanine Pipeline: From the UK for the first ten years at least…

Louis – the UK might well agree. The UK taxpayer has zero interest in NI and view it as an expensive anachronism. But we are barely able to service our €200+ billion National Debt!

A recent report from Canada suggests that a united Ireland would bring an extra 35 billion euro to the economy. The economic argument against a united Ireland doesn’t hold water.

a report! by whom – link?

@Alanine Pipeline: Some Irish accountant on the run from NAMA hiding in Alberta.

If we annexed NI, there would be huge parties – in every allotment, alley, street, pub, park in the UK. It costs them £11 billion a year – and nobody give a monkeys about it. That £11b would pay for the NHS for a month.

@John Travers: I’m curious about the reasoning. How would this work? What sectors would increase in economic productivity? What synergies are involved? Would the benefits primarily accrue in Northern Ireland or the South of Ireland.

What funding would be required to fund this increase or expansion? Where would the funding come from?

One other figure – the £11b would fund the HSE for a year. And we’re having a problem doing that, at the moment – without NI..

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/both-republic-and-north-could-benefit-from-united-ireland-1.2823081?mode=amp

@Graeme Gregg: but where dies the €35 billion come from and how? I’m asking for real and tangible explanations.

@Eamon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbSGp4WIBsQ

A few things stick out in the report(!) – the lead guy has worked for SF/IRA. There is no mention of Brexit. And no detail of their analysis or assumptions – who are these ‘academics’…

@Alanine Pipeline:.. They’d pale by comparison to to the parties we’d have here.

@Louis Jacob: If we annexed (not quite the word I use) the North I mean.

NI has ruined and blighted so many lives. The UK can’t do much about it – and those of us in the South who seek to annex it need help; we bankrupted our own country (ok – technically ‘almost’).

@Alanine Pipeline: First, ‘annex’ is completely the wrong word. Second, I completely disagree, Reunification is precisely was we need in terms of moral and I think the resulting optimism would drive this country on to period of immense coopetartion and properity… Too easy to underestimate just how huge an occasion it would be

@Alanine Pipeline: get the 1billion from the u.k its the very least they owe us. Actually we should get 2 billion, considering we would be doing them a favour and as compensation for their reign of terror.

Optimism doesn’t pay bills – where would we get the money (£11bn a year)?

@Alanine Pipeline: For a start, they’re infrastructure is absolutely top class. They also have the 2nd busiest port. As part of a reunited Ireland, they would no longer by some weird back water sectarian horror story, they would be an equal part of a country that excels in the procurement of foreign investment.

@Alanine Pipeline: Also optimism is the prime component of a successful economy.

Louis – seek help. We are unable to manage our own country – why not answer, where will the money come from? To pay for our NI investment?

@Alanine Pipeline: I told you from the UK until we have had the chance to merge two economies into one. About 10 years.

Alanine- https://www.google.ie/amp/amp.irishexaminer.com/business/united-irish-economy-could-deliver-boost-of-36bn-388959.html

@Alanine Pipeline: The money comes from the resource. Louis is right, at least 10yrs but I would wager 20yrs. 63% of the population in NI work for the Gov, a mighty bill. approx 10% are in private and the rest is supported by social for whatever reason. Now they are an ageing economy. in the South we need new ideas, new energy, more resource as in people. We only have left the IT industry and if we invest we will do well. Problem is we do not have enough people. So, brexit is a major challenge to the UK. They will look at every budget they can decrease. NI is a major one. It is not like they are increasing private sector jobs, they are simply maintaining a private sector budget that will cost more and more each year. If we had an opportunity to negotiate then we could bring more companies into our little island and have more resource to fulfill these jobs. We would have more land to build, decrease the social spend as the industry of construction will be revitalised. A new found growth for NI and importantly, they would be tax payers that would help with infrastructure, housing, education, health. HOWEVER, nobody above has brought up the inevitable. It is a very divided society with a lot of harsh history. there would need to be a civil war (and I am not sure it would be that long but it may be brutal in a short space of time) to make progression. I for one am Irish and I would love to see a united Ireland in my lifetime. But on a peaceful level and with an economy to include all our citizens.

@Mary Ward: sorry maintaining a public sector budget….ouch

@Mary Ward: and the $1bn it costs to the UK gov to us. They simply negotiate a 5-10yr contract with us to cover the costs of taking over a very disfunctional and costly piece of the world they took in the first place. As they say, what goes around comes around but at a price.

A recent report meaning an opinion of one economist paid for by the political wing of -the so called IRA.

There isn’t one. The rot runs so deep you would need to get rid of them all & bring in new blood completely from the business private sector. People who actually know how to run a business. The country is a badly run business so it’s business people who should be running it.

Haha. I can’t. Definitely easier by process of elimination. But did you see kennys recent performance in the dail trying to explain the McCabe issue! They’ll all be in stitches in Brussels if he gives a repeat performance.

@Adrienne Kelly: name these business people who have the intelligence and moral integrity to run the country, I can’t think of one.

@joe o hare: Not one Joe really?? So there’s not one outspoken business man who could run this country???

I had no one in mind specifically but business people know how to use a budget correctly, our politicians claim to have budgets but they constantly overrun. Why? I operate a business & do bookkeeping for several different types of businesses and to all of these a budget is a figure you work within because the money is not never ending….and if you allocate monies you have to maximise your budget & get best value for your money. That does not happen in government departments. I could go on & on & pick out the problems in each area but you’d be asleep long before you got halfway through. The whole system needs a complete overhaul & change of rules & work practices but not going to happen because no one wants to upset the cushy status quo that’s going on. No one is able to break it while they all stick together. It’s a pity because we’re a great little country & a nation with a reputation for hard workers. C’est la vie nothing will change & we’ll all keep getting up to the SSDD!

Mind you Michael O’Leary wouldn’t be a bad choice

@Adrienne Kelly: no he would be worse than bad. Michael o Leary’s only interest is michael o Leary.

Are there any competent politician on the horizon ? Doesn’t seem so ?!

regardless of the childish commentary we are looking on a serious note at either Coveney or Micheal Martin.

@Adrian: Mary Lou if Adams stepped down. There are always options but we are a defeatist country. Not so long ago it was completely different. Have we learned. Not one bit.

So what you are advocating is essentially more austerity or higher taxes? Or a combination of both. No service provided that cannot at least pay for itself or even make a profit? Any service that cannot make that criterion has to be cut. Full privatisation of all non core government functions. Because that is the logic of your argument. Good luck with that electoral platform.

Politicians seem to be working adequately at a local level, they get elected, but at a national level, they are horrendously poor. There are 150 odd TDs in the dail with less than 20 in cabinet with a few more ministers of state.
These are the jobs that we need to employ people with the proper qualifications and capabilities and i would say there probably needs to be an interview process and competency tests for these roles at national level politicis.
A private company wouldn’t employ a teacher, a journalist, a social worker, a publican, a doctor, an accountant, a fella with an agriculture degree whose daddy was a politician, to fill their CEO roles in their company so why do we think these types of people are suitable to run big organization type departments in politics.

Joe, now there’s a throw-away comment without any value. Unapologetically successful…more like him needed. I very much doubt all the current mouldy crop of politicians have done as much for Ireland as MO’L.

Why do some people just hate others who are successful?

Run the country as a business. And let a business man run it. Not some idiot who hasn’t a clue. Jesus you must know politics hasn’t worked for decades now. Politics is just another word for corruption

Would the business man be elected or who would pick him/her?

@Steven Hillert: Like Mr businessman Trump you mean, now that’s working well.

@Steven Hillert: Do you have proof that business men are not idiots, would you consider business women.

@Steven Hillert: “Run the country as a business. And let a business man run it.”

A country doesn’t operate like a business. In a business, the main goal is to make a profit. In a country, the main goal is to ensure a good quality of life for all citizens – including healthcare, education, housing, infrastructure etc..

A businessman earning millions or billions has very little in common with the average family struggling. They are not in a position to empathise.

It’s amazing that people would disagree with you.

@Seán Ó Briain: I disagree. We have entered the world of globalization and economics plays a large part of it. A business is run on the merit of it’s employees and the willing to succeed whatever it takes. It therefore enables a degree of quality of life which includes healthcare (paid for by many a private sector company), education (which many a private sector sponsors), housing would be standardized as a business leader would need to ensure their employees at least have a roof, infrastructure in any company is crucial as any company needs resource planning and that includes getting folks to work. So actually, if we had real business folks in our government who looked at the budget and waste in many a gov dept (and there is so much because many a folk have a job for life…..sorry just being honest), then we would decrease the spend on administration, increase on necessary needs like nursing and doctors and stir the young into private sector jobs which in all fairness is our only industry left. We sold off everything else but we need to reinvigorate the work ethic and not allow a manager in a shitty dept in public sector that has a budget and a headcount to create a bs job for the sake of spending in the case that their budget decreases the year after. We need to introduce performance indicators and ensure said manager is making a profit be it in revenue or services. So yeah, we need to run this country like a business.

Are you a member of a political party? Are you trying to change things? Or just a specialist keyboard warrior?

And Mary, you think the Stalinist SF under the empress Maria Louisa fits the bill?

I wasn’t being facetious by the way!

the Treaty of ROME is the one that counts. anyhow the german car industry and eon germany’s largest energy co w/ uk operations has pressed Berlin f a deal w/ uk..

@Donncha Ó Coileáin: He is indeed blowing hot air. Trying to appeal to the very people who cannot stand him. Last ditch attempt but with him in government it would not happen. Personally I would like to see a one Ireland. I think since we sold every other resource we at least have a work ethic and a willing to learn. Our education is not so bad either. Of the population in NI, at least 63% work for the governing. Another approx 10% are employed in the private sector. The rest of the % is out of work or needing social assistance. That is quite a bill for the UK and we are in a surprising position to make a play. Why would we do that? We are a small country, we need people on the ground to take jobs, we may well inherit various companies from the UK on the back of brexit. We need space and housing. I doubt the government in the UK are making any profits on NI. Its a bill, a noose if you like. So we could strike a deal. We could reemploy the young into private jobs. Invest in housing for the private sector and particularly the building sector up there that has suffered the same as the south. We could have the UK pay a premium over a period of time to support the changes. Either way it is a cost effective option for them. We need more resource in the south with both people and housing and the tax payer to pay into our system. Would it work….not on your nelly. Not for about 20yrs. Why, the divide politically with the population in NI is too large. It’s a curse that was created if you like. It’s a pity. Progress is good and without it, there is only ever a recession of sorts.

German car industry has made very clear that while UK is important it sells majority of its product to other EU countries. More interested in preserving that.

Joe
So do you think we should have taken a stance like Greece?
Have you been to Greece lately?
It’s falling apart.

Take a look at this comment by Randal McNally on the article “On Brussels trip, Kenny says Brexit deal should include provision for united Ireland ” from TheJournal.ie:

http://c.jrnl.ie/5916214

More like frustration,

@Tony Daly: Well if so, then we just reinstall articles 2 and 3 in the Constitution again.