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EVERYONE NEEDS A home – it is a basic human right. Everyone agrees with that. Yet here we are at the end of 2022, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, living an unprecedented catastrophe in housing caused by Government policy and private property profiteering (not caused by you millennials).
But as I will show in this article, there is hope in new solutions that can get us out of the crisis.
We need big, bold radical ideas and measures – not tinkering about trying to make the private market ‘work’ when it is inherently dysfunctional. We need a new road map for housing – like Sláinte Care provided a vision and plan for universal access to health care.
2022 will be remembered as a record-breaking year in housing. Highest-ever rents, high house prices, evictions, homelessness, numbers of young adults stuck living with their parents, and forced emigration because of the lack of homes.
And in the midst of this, with the highest-ever level of housing need, new home building starts are falling. Because of inflation and economic uncertainty, the private market is deeming it unviable and unprofitable to build.
What will 2023 bring in housing?
Hold your breath. 2023 will see the housing crisis worsen even further, unless we can raise our voices together and force this Government to change.
The ‘new’ Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says housing is a key priority for him. But using the same failed policies won’t solve housing.
The housing crisis is like a fire raging in a building (our collective building – our society, our country). The Government says: look, things are improving, the fire might be spreading, but we have put out the fire in the corner of one part of the building, aren’t we great.
But until you have a way to put out the whole fire, it will keep burning and ultimately burn the building down. Even worse, the Government has fire engines – in the huge budget surplus and €6bn rainy day fund – waiting to be deployed at some serious fire in the future. This is the fire that is burning down our common home – and burning up our country.
The Government has shown it can be influenced by public pressure. It introduced the temporary eviction ban, despite saying it wouldn’t do it. The large Raise the Roof protest in November has put further pressure on.
The Taoiseach knows there is a large cross-society groundswell of anger, frustration, and demand out there amongst the Irish public for a massive change in housing. If that mood is mobilised and supported in a positive way and turned into a massive social movement with protests on the streets and a Referendum to enshrine the Right to Housing in the Constitution, then there is real hope that things can start to get better in 2023.
There is also hope in the increased delivery of homes by ‘not-for-profit’ housing associations and local authorities that has started in the last two or three years, and the emergence of community led housing.
The starting point in all this is to understand that the housing crisis is a social and economic disaster created by policy. A generation are asking: “What future is there for me in this country?”
There are 450,000 adults living at home with their parents, and many feel like they can’t speak out, because they feel ashamed of being stuck, as if it is their fault. Renters are terrified to complain in case their landlord evicts them. A country where its people cannot get a home is a broken country, a broken society, a broken economy.
The proportion of adults in their 20s still living with their parents is truly shocking. 75% of 20 to 29-year-olds in this country are still living with their parents.
But Government will try gaslight you and say that’s probably the same all over Europe. In fact, it’s way above the EU average of 57%, and in Denmark, just 12% or 1 in 10 of 20 to 29-year-olds are still living with their parents.
And it continues on to people in their 30s: 41% of 25 to 34-year-olds in Ireland live with their parents. It wasn’t like that 10 years ago. In 2012 just 21% of that age group lived at home.
It’s ten times higher than the 4% of 25 to 24-year-olds still living at home with their parents in Denmark. And there are those who can’t go back to their parents or family home, or their parents aren’t alive.
One in 10 of 18 to 24-year-olds experienced hidden homelessness in the last 12 months. Care leavers are very vulnerable to this.
Generation Rent
Then there is Generation Rent. Facing ever higher rents, poor quality housing, landlords failing to do repairs, not able to have pets, or hang a painting. Living with strangers in your 30s and 40s. And living in a perpetual state of insecurity.
We have one of the highest rents in the EU. Rents in Ireland increased by 82% since 2010 compared to just 18% in the EU. In Dublin, rents were €963 a month in 2012, today they are up 108% on that, at €2,011.
A nurse’s take-home salary after tax is €2,196, so it would require their entire take-home pay to pay for the average rent in Dublin. That is why we can’t get nurses to work in our hospitals, childcare workers, or teachers in schools in Dublin and surrounding counties. The housing crisis is affecting the ability of our essential services to function.
Renters are being hammered by multiple cost-of-living rises and it is showing in rising poverty rates among renters. One in five (19.3%) renters went without heating at some point in the last year, compared with one in 20 (4.4%) of homeowners. The general impression is most renters are young single professionals. In fact, 42% of all those living in the private rental sector are families with children. 138,747 households with children are living in the rental sector.
A generation of children are being traumatised by housing insecurity. In the last two and a half years in Dublin – 3,909 families presented as homeless. That means over 8,000 children experienced some aspect of the trauma of home loss and homelessness in Dublin in the last two and a half years.
Eviction ban
Renters are living in fear and anxiety about what will happen when the eviction ban is lifted in March. The RTB was notified of 4,643 eviction notices served by landlords in the last 12 months.
A tsunami of evictions is set to take place if the ban is not extended for at least another 12 months, and in reality it will need to be in place for a number of years until the crisis abates.
Landlords need to understand that their property is a tenant’s home. The eviction ban doesn’t stop landlords leaving the market – they can sell up and leave the tenant in place. Local authorities and housing associations have funding now to buy up such property.
Why isn’t a tenant given the option to buy their home, with support from the Government? Rather than thinking ‘oh no, landlords are leaving the market’, how can we keep them?
It can be a way of remaking our housing system towards one where people are able to buy an affordable home or rent affordably with lifetime security.
Government has also failed to enforce rent regulations effectively – so landlords can evict lower paying tenants and get in higher paying ones relatively easily. This leads to homelessness and brings overall rent up.
Investor funds
Unless, of course you are a global investor fund landlord. And this is an area that Leo Varadkar, the new Taoiseach, will have to reverse policy on, if he is serious about making housing and rents affordable.
Government policy over last decade has been about allowing rents rise to incentivise property investors. The Government has continued to back the investor funds, through the Real Estate Investment Trust tax break, and in allowing new properties to be rented at whatever the investor funds want – setting new market rents and driving rents upwards.
Government trumpets the increase in new housing supply but very little of it is affordable, and in Dublin only a minority of the new build units are actually available for sale.
Investor vampire fund build-to-rent are the main new supply in Dublin – at unaffordable rents. The Dublin housing market has been taken over by non-household purchases –pushing up rents and house prices and blocking home purchases. 60% (2,833 units) of all new build units (4,822) sold in Dublin so far this year were bought by ‘non-households’ (mainly investor funds, but also by local authorities and AHBs as social housing). Just 20% was bought by first time buyers.
House prices will continue to rise –they are already 3% above the levels seen in the height of the Celtic Tiger boom. Where is the policy to reduce house prices, to make house prices affordable?
Housing For All targets the delivery of 33,000 homes per year, but just under a half (14,000) of those are social and affordable, the remainder are market priced (ie unaffordable) homes. This a fundamental flaw.
We need a guaranteed delivery of 15,000 social and 15,000 affordable homes each year, that is 30,000 social and affordable homes to meet the level of real housing need and demand.
Thinking afresh
The way forward is a reimagining of our whole housing model, land, property and finance. We need to make our housing market work to meet housing needs – to provide homes, not investment assets. And alongside that to provide energy efficient sustainable homes for everyone, not just those who can afford it.
It is not socially or environmentally sustainable to allow land and buildings in cities and towns sit vacant and derelict. It requires a new approach to private property ownership -putting society and environmental needs first.
So how should we do it? Start by putting the resources and funding needed into it. The €6bn from the rainy day fund should be allocated to do the following:
Support the not-for profit housing associations and local authorities to bypass the developers and directly contract builders to provide homes immediately on the huge public land we have.
Set up a public construction company that would hire the key trades, such as carpenters plumbers, architects, engineers, that can deliver housing. Through regional offices it would build homes across the country. The workers are there – but we will lose them to emigration and other parts of the economy if the State doesn’t step in now and guarantee employment. It would also refurbish and retrofit housing to meet energy efficiency climate goals.
Create a new form of affordable home ownership in Ireland. I explain in my book, Gaffs – that alongside a huge ramping up of social and affordable cost rental homes, we should develop a New Ireland Homes scheme as a way to actually increase home ownership levels on a sustainable basis. It would be a new public affordable housing that people could buy, and own their own home for life. They could sell it, but only back to the New Ireland Home’s Scheme, a ring- fenced affordable housing market or back to a housing body. If we built 5,000 of these homes per year, all around the country, within twenty years we would have a potential affordable housing market of 100,000 homes being kept affordable on a permanent basis.
Create a new cooperative community led housing sector. Provide legislation, land and finance for cooperative community and self building of green homes. Common Ground in Wicklow and Self Organised Architects have worked up plans for this. Cloughjordan in Tipperary have done it. Young people want to create and live in sustainable communities. They should be supported as part of creating a new cooperative sustainable economy that will be resilient in terms of future economic and climatic shocks.
The issue of vacant and derelict properties remains to be properly tackled. The Census found last year 166,000 vacant homes. 48,387 were long term vacant (vacant in 2016 and 2022). 38,000 were vacant rentals. In contrast, there are just 1,354 properties listed nationally to rent. The government introduced a small vacant property tax that needs to be substantially increased to be effective. Local authorities need to be funded and supported to engage in a huge compulsory purchase, and bring in compulsory sales of vacant and derelict units across the country. These could then be sold to individuals, or a housing association for social and affordable housing.
A clampdown and restriction on short stay lets would be a rapidly effective measure to increase rental supply. Many of these vacant rentals are also being used as short stay accommodation, like Airbnb. There are 16,000 entire homes listed as available on Airbnb across Ireland. In Dublin there are 3,500 entire homes listed. And 40% of all listings are part of multiple property listings indicating these are landlords, not just a person renting out their home. So if we restricted such short-term lettings we could provide an additional 15,000 entire homes – immediately.
To drive this fundamental change in housing we need to put a right to housing in the Constitution. The Housing Commission is due to recommend to Government a wording for a referendum on housing imminently. Holding that referendum is a vital step in having a national conversation about housing, how we treat it, and expressing, what is clearly now a majority view, that housing should be treated as a human right. Having it in the Constitution would give a clear requirement and guide for Government to ensure affordable decent secure housing is in place, and it would strengthen its ability and mandate to take major new initiatives to address housing issues.
Tax the Real Estate Investor Funds, and tax the non-home purchase of property by investor buyers
Freeze rents, and cap new market rents
Extend the eviction ban for two years. Buy up the properties off landlords leaving and enable the tenants to stay in their homes, and offer them to sale to tenants.
So there you are Taoiseach. A number of ideas that you could implement immediately to give relief and hope to Generation Locked Out in 2023 and move us toward solving the housing crisis.
The real cause
Let us not be hoodwinked by nefarious groups blaming immigrants and refugees for the housing crisis.
As I set out here, the real cause of the housing crisis is Government policy abandoning communities and social housing and facilitating the private market squeezing of housing as an investment asset.
Protesting against asylum seekers will not get one house built, in fact it just takes pressure off the Government and misdirects public anger on already traumatised refugees.
I mentioned Denmark earlier as a place where young people can leave and get their own home at an early age. In Denmark, public housing accommodates one million people in more than 8,500 estates owned by 550 different not-for-profit housing associations.
It is financed by borrowing from the Danish Housing Investment Bank (funded by Danish pension funds). There is no income test – everybody is entitled to social housing. In Denmark 30% of its total housing is ‘non-market’ social and affordable. In Ireland it is just 10%.
The Raise the Roof protest in November sent a clear message to Government to change direction in housing, and I believe that is part of why the new Taoiseach said he thinks it is an emergency.
People are standing up and speaking out. Just look at the range of groups acting: from Raise the Roof led by the trade unions and civil society organisations (who really have a vital role in driving the movement), the Home for Good campaign for a Right to Housing Referendum, and tenants’ union CATU is organising and stopping evictions.
Organisations like Focus Ireland, De Paul, Threshold and Simon Communities are doing incredible work to prevent homelessness and support those in homelessness. Artists and musicians are highlighting the crisis. Blindboy has had me on his podcast and live show to set out the causes and solutions and they got a phenomenal response.
At the launches of my book, I’ve been struck by the range of people affected by the crisis, and how they want to take action, and see major change. But most of all the young people, saying they want the change, but are increasingly feeling despair.
People are telling their experience of the housing crisis from renters to those stuck living at home on social media and on my podcast Reboot Republic. The silence and stigma is being broken through.
That is why in 2023 we will need to see Raise the Roof protests in every town and city across the country, and new groups talking and acting on the housing crisis, to make housing a human right.
Everyone affected needs to work together to help us to create a citizen-led, positive, movement for homes for all. That should also include use ‘self-building’ a new future -through cooperative green community led housing.
It is only when you make noise that you will be heard. That is where the hope that can overcome despair comes from.
Through such a movement we can ensure everyone has a home, and done in a way that nurtures a new Ireland with decent jobs, delivering sustainable homes, with real community involvement. Bring on 2023.
Dr Rory Hearne is an Assistant Professor at Maynooth University and the author of Gaffs. He is also the host of the Reboot Republic Podcast.
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The always angry socialists will cry betrayal etc but Bernie is doing the right and sensible thing here, the Presidency, defeating Trump is the big prize. Hopefully the start of Democrat unity here on in.
Sanders rowing in behind Clinton is a huge mistake and a betrayal of the magnificent mass movement which has grown around him. The U.S working class deserves a chance to vote for someone other than the Republicans and Democrats who both represent the interests of the 1% and who are relentless enemies of the majority. Defeating Trump is not the big prize. Building a new political party to represent the mass of ordinary Americans instead of the billionaire class would be a prize worth fighting for but Sanders has chosen to retreat.
And this the warmonger that you’re asking people to unify behind Jurgen:
“In the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton threatened to “totally obliterate” Iran with nuclear weapons. As Secretary of State under Obama, she participated in the overthrow of the democratic government of Honduras. Her contribution to the destruction of Libya in 2011 was almost gleeful. When the Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi, was publicly sodomised with a knife – a murder made possible by American logistics – Clinton gloated over his death: “We came, we saw, he died.”
Wally it sounds like you are saying you would like to see sanders go independent and split the democratic vote paving the way for Trump to become president? So you’re a closet Trump supporter then lol
seems the ordinary people dont want bernie or his lefty ways…. why ever would that be :D
AN other,
Why do you imagine a Trump presidency would be any worse than a Clinton one? They and their parties are vicious enemies of the majority working class of the U.S and all nations. The welfare of the majority cannot be protected within the confines of the current system which is reflected in your false binary choice between Clinton and Trump.
Sanders should run as an independent or on the Green party ticket with the objective of building a new political party to represent the mass of ordinary Americans instead of the billionaire class.
Here’s what socialist alternative in the U.S are proposing for a Sanders run as an independent with the objective of building that new party:
“This is what Bernie himself raises, and it is absolutely correct that Trump is a real threat to the rights of working people, women, and people of color. However, a Hillary candidacy and potential presidency would be a gift to Trump and the right-wing populist policies he represents. Hillary’s pro-corporate, warmonger policies would lead to more of the poverty and discontent that fuels Trump’s train of hate. To cut across Trump, we need protests that connect the fight against racism to a working-class program for jobs, education, housing, and healthcare. We also need candidates – like Bernie – that refuse to take a dime in corporate cash to show a real alternative to the establishment and the Wall Street domination of both parties.
Still, we realize that many people would be horrified at the prospect of an open bigot having a chance at sitting in the White House and would be unwilling to risk having a “spoiler” campaign. Bernie could still run an all-out campaign in more than 40 states and run no risk of playing the “spoiler.” Most states will be won by either a Democrat or Republican with a clear majority. Less than ten will be “swing states.” In those swing states, an independent Sanders campaign could organize people to build the political revolution and fight for the strongest possible vote in neighboring states that are already guaranteed to be won by either a Democrat or Republican. This is one tactic that could be discussed as an option by a conference that pulls together all Sanders supporters to talk about next steps for the political revolution.”
http://www.socialistalternative.org/2016/04/09/a-bernie-sanders-run-independent/
and add remove jobs from ireland too wally….
Wally I’ve gotta hand it to you. Like the rest of the crazy socialists you bring sore loserdom to whole new level. Turning on Saint Bernard like that! There’s never any room for compromise with the ideological purists is there?
Yesh, those “crazy socialists” who bailed out the corrupt and parasitic Wall St with trillions of U.S dollars. Oh no wait…………I remember now, that was the sensible capitalists wasn’t it?
Reformism of the Democratic party is a dead end as Sanders will soon discover. And its notable that you didn’t even attempt to defend Clinton.
could you define a parasite wally, would a layabout on welfare be a parasite?
Wally I don’t defend the bailouts either. I can loosely support a party and also see flaws, something guys like you are incapable of. You want it your way or nothing. And regardless of Clinton’s many faults, she has more votes, more big states, more pledged delegates and more superdelegates.
All you’re ranting, all your ideological purism can’t change that. Bernie doesn’t need your assent or that of his more extreme supporters to stay in the Democratic fold and achieve something practical.
It also won’t change the fact your AAA continues to have such miserable support. For someone that claims to have so many solutions to economic problems it must be endlessly frustrating that so few are attracted to your brand of socialism.
Jurgen,
Sanders will achieve nothing within the “Democratic fold” other than perpetuate the system of gross exploitation of the majority to obscenely enrich the elite.
The rise of Trump and Sanders are both symptoms of the catastrophic failures of that economic system for millions of Americans. Capitalism will not last as its internal contradictions are nearing crisis point.
Capitalism’s quest for eternally increasing profits destroys the basis on which those profits can be made.
So for example, as capital drives ever more of the working class into poverty with savaged wages and conditions, they can no longer afford to purchase the products which capital needs to sell to them in order to accumulate profit. And it’s clear that capitalism it utterly incapable of resolving the impending catastrophe of climate change as it is responsible for much of the environmental damage and there is no profit to be accumulated in resolving this.
Capitalism is unsustainable. The only question is what socioeconomic system will replace it. Socialism or the barbarism represented by Trump and the rise of the far right across Europe and elsewhere.
Here’s Chris Hedges on the grotesque farce that is U.S “democracy”.
Republicans, like Democrats, did not prevent wages from declining, unemployment and chronic underemployment from mounting, foreclosures from ripping apart communities, banks from looting the U.S. treasury, or jobs from being exported. The two major parties colluded to pass trade agreements, ranging from NAFTA and the WTO to the now-pending TPP, that impoverish workers and weaken the power of government to intervene to protect the citizenry and the environment. They worked together to strip citizens of constitutional rights and install the most pervasive security and surveillance state in human history. They collaborated with Wall Street to trash the global economy and seize trillions in taxpayer money in bailouts. The two parties funded disastrous and futile imperial wars that enrich the arms manufacturers and defense contractors while bankrupting the nation. They militarized police, rewrote the laws to explode our prison population and destroyed social service programs such as our welfare system, which was dismantled by the Clinton administration. The two parties orchestrated the corporate coup d’état while diverting citizens with the battles over gay rights, abortion, “Christian” values, gun laws and affirmative action. The country realizes it has been sold out. Most citizens are apathetic and do not vote consistently. Some, especially in the white underclass, are willing to follow anyone, no matter how buffoonish, who promises that the parasites and courtiers will be driven from power. This mixture of rage and apathy is a recipe for totalitarianism………………………
Half of all Americans live in poverty. They have watched helplessly as their communities have been plunged into distress by the flight of manufacturing jobs and as their infrastructure, both moral and physical, has been ripped out from under them. America resembles the developing world. A tiny, oligarchic elite amasses obscene amounts of wealth while most of the population lives amid boarded-up storefronts, dilapidated houses, pothole-riddled streets, abandoned factories and warehouses and crumbling schools. They see no future. They have abandoned hope. Their despair now infects a shrinking and desperate middle class. Americans feel isolated, vulnerable and frightened. They yearn for moral and economic renewal, revived greatness, and vengeance. And many are desperately hunting for a savior outside the established political order.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_age_of_the_demagogues_20151129
Do you expect us to read that shit you Wally?
To be fair to Trump, he has been pro abortion, anti abortion, a supporter of black rights, a supporter of the KKK, pro gay, anti gay, anti Muslim, anti Jewish, anti Christian and pro religion, wants to ban guns one day, wants to protect the second amendment the next… Basically he’s been a bit of everything since his campaign started and I’m not calling him diverse but he clearly wants the white house badly
No Donal. The comment was aimed at those with a functioning brain.
if people believed all that lefty crap they surely would vote for it, where ever did it all go wrong wally :D
Trying to keep Trump out should be the only goal if you can’t win it yourself. He’s doing what he has to – supporting the lesser of 2 evils.
Hillary lesser of two evils? In the past has associated with he KKK Hillary? Caused a migrant crisis and civil unrest in north Africa Hillary? Endangered US national security Hillary? Under FBI investigation Hillary? Endorsed by Wall st and the KKK hillary? My god you’re right. And there i was thinking trump was better with his anti-war and anti-corporate stances in trade
So you’d rather Trump?
I heard she lures children into her gingerbread house and eats them!!!
@AGuyWithARant add to that list; Called for construction of a BARRIER between USA & Mexico Hillary Called young black kids super-predators Hillary Claimed Martin Luther King WASN’T all THAT great And there I was thinking that Hillary was really different to how the MSM portray clown like Trump
You had me at “Endangered US national security” :D
@jane. Yes, yes I would. You ask that with such an attitude to imply trump gas fringe support, he is leading in most polls. His stances on trade and infrastructure go neglected by the media. Im no american but he is the man for the job.
Yeah bilbo passing on emails to so with national security on her personal email kinda put the usa at risk. Just ask the FBI who are investigating her
Imply Trump has fringe support not gas. Sorry typo. Contrary to leftist belief he is not hitler and does not gas people
Oh really? She did all that? I have no idea why she wants to be president, she’s clearly already the most powerful person in the world.
Graham she was secretary of state so she was pretty powerful and she comes from the clinton family. Please go learn about this wretched woman’s career before you try and make sly remarks
I wasn’t aware that the Secretary of state had the authority to act contrary to the instructions of the US administration. So where would you recommend I go to learn about her career? Any good memes?
KKK Hillary? The candidate with 96% support of the African American population? Wherever you got that useless name for her, it’s a flat out lie.
@Brinster
I think the point being made is that people were very quick to tar Trump with the racist card, for reasons that also apply to Hillary.
Specifically on the KKK reference;
The KKK donated $20K to Hillarys campaign, and have publicly endorsed her run for office, with the organisations leader referring to their long standing support for democratic party.
Of course, Hillarys camp claim to have refunded the donation and have rejected the support.
@Rob – do you have any proof to show that they didn’t?
I think Trump, albeit something of a gamble on the unknown, is the lesser of the two (very) evils that are likely to be the only real choice in this Presidential election. And for all the reasons noted above by others.
Clinton is both psychopathic and already has a deadly track record, of either support of direct instigation, in foreign military interventions which have cost 100s of thousands of innocent civilian lives and millions of refugees in numerous countries. Trump, we know nothing beyond his rhetoric (admittedly increasingly bellicose).
However, I do realise there is a close judgement call involved between her and Trump, and which (scarily) got a lot closer following Trumps simply absurd and hateful public rants following the Orlando massacre.
That this is the likely choice for a US President, imo, suggests a disturbing rise in social and mental instability, both causing and feeding off a rise in psychopathic behaviour – ie that lacking normal human empathy or conscience.
Highly resonant in fact, with the similar rise in far right sociopathic views generally in society, as ocurred in the 1930s following rather similar endemic corruption/fraud busts in finance, politics and most other institutional systems. All amplified, as then, by the echo chamber of mass media propaganda, whether deliberately intended or otherwise.
Indeed, we all see such emboldened and rabidly sociopathic views expressed in comments right here on the Journal.
@Graham,
Actually, I don’t have any proof that the Hillary campaign didn’t accept the money.
Nothing official whatsoever – just a view obtained from some blog (via google search).
What hateful rants did he go on after the orlando massacre? As a gay person he was the only person i saw sticking up for people like me and telling it how it really is. Hillary’s feed was littered with “lets not be islamophobic after this islamic terrorism also by the way killing gay people is bad to kk guyz” type messages. Trump stuck up for gay people against the greatest threat to gay people in the west- Islam. A toxic ideology
“As a gay person he was the only person i saw sticking up for people like me…” There’s not much of a view when your head is firmly lodged up your *ss.
Graham, so tolerant: until people dare think differently from him!
Donald Trump is against same sex marriage or extending the rights enjoyed by married heterosexual couples to same sex couples, says he is for traditional marriage, despite being on his third wife, and thinks that states should be allowed to decide for themselves on the subject of bathroom laws for transgendered individuals (a row back on a previous statement).
This is the person you think is sticking up for gay people like you. You’re either extremely stupid or an extremely bad troll, and I have little patience for either.
@Graham so was Hillary, she was consistent on that for many many years. Obama was too. Trump will stand up to Islam. The ideology which poses the greatest risk to women and minorities, including sexual minorities – gays. Whereas Clinton will not. I mean how could she when the House of Saud has her in their pocket.
@Graham Kavanagh
If the gay agenda is important to you – how could you possibly not vote for Trump? he wants to confront Islam whereas Hillary will not even acknowledge it has an issue.
Clinton refuses to confront the group who want to;
1) at the very best criminalise homosexuals
2) at worst throw gays from a cliff, then throw rocks at the corpse to stop the gay spreading.
Even if we just imagine for a moment that Trump isn’t down with gay marriage, or even if he wants to ban every bakery from ever baking a wedding cake for a gay wedding, you must think this is a better outcome than letting Clinton run the show.
@Graham Kavanagh if the gay agenda is important to you – how could you possibly NOT vote Trump?
Trump will confront Islam, whereas Hillary will not – she will not even acknowledge it has an issue.
Clinton refuses to confront the group who want to;
at best criminalise homosexuals
at worst throw gays from a cliff, then throw rocks at the corpse to stop the gay disease spreading
I mean, even If we imagine just for a single moment that Trump isn’t down with gay marriage, or even that he suggests a ban on all bakeries baking wedding cakes for gay weddings, you still must think this a better option than having Clinton embrace the Islamist ideology.
@Graham Kavanagh
If the gay agenda is important to you – how could you possibly NOT vote Trump?
Trump will confront Islam, whereas Hillary will not – she will not even acknowledge it has an issue.
Clinton refuses to confront the group who want to;
at best criminalise homosexuals
at worst throw gays from a cliff, then throw rocks at the corpse to stop the gay disease spreading
I mean, even If we imagine just for a single moment that Trump isn’t down with gay marriage, or even that he suggests a ban on all bakeries baking wedding cakes for gay weddings, surely you must think this a better option than having Clinton embrace Islam like nothing is wrong?
“I’ll never support you Hillary, you go against all I stand for”
“….. I’ll give you a position in my administration when I win”
“Deal”
God forbid someone would compromise for a position of power where they might be able to influence people and actually make progress on their goals of increased social policy.
Much better to hold you ground as a trouble maker on the sidelines featuring in Internet memes, accomplishing nothing and playing victim like the establishment is stacked against you.
Too bad he won’t have access to that position when Trump wins
But I see your point
There isn’t a politician alive that wouldn’t work on to be fair.
The journal are about a week behind on this news, try to keep up
So much for anti-establishment bernie sanders!! In fairness, Hillary is closer to his commie views
Millennials still throwing a tantrum and refusing to participate if they don’t get their way, because any way you can count the votes Hillary stills wins.
I can almost hear the high pitched child like whine, but it’s not faaaaaaaaaiiiiiiirrrr…
lefties never did like democracy
@tommy
Remember when they had that democratic revolution in France and implemented a tyrant and an emperor in the space of 10 years? Whats France on now, its sixth republic? Maybe its just the french actually… The French created the modern republic. The french are terrible at the modern republic
Stanford University has been studying the Democratic primaries’ election processes.
In preliminary findings, they have already uncovered widespread election fraud and rigging, in Clinton’s favour.
One example…
Exit polls from California show a *masive* 23% discrepency from the officially declared results…
Any discrepancy over 2% is considered to be indicative of fraud, and should be investigated.
and ye lefties wonder why everyone just laughs at ye, its the same after every election when ye get soundly beaten :D
“… Sanders said that while it is “no secret” that he and Clinton have “strong disagreements on some very important issues”, it was “also true that our views are quite close on others”… ”
The only problem with this is that Sanders honestly holds his views, whereas Clinton lies pathologically for whatever political advantage she sees for herself. (As might be expected from a psychopath.)
However, Sanders is no fool, he knows Clinton may not adopt any progressive policies once she’s on her WH throne and his campaign continues, including legal action challenging the rather obviously rigged (legally and illegally) primaries.
But I believe Sanders sees value in two tactics if he cannot win the nomination, or have a realistic chance of the Presidency any other way (eg as independent).
1. To keep the movement he feels his supporters want, especially the younger demographic, growing stronger. Perhaps handing the reins over to youger campaigners.
2. To extract whatever progressive radical reforms possible from the Democratic party administration (eg removal of Superdelegates’ voting powers) in return for not necessarily full endorsement of Clinton, but rather assistance in defeating Trump.
In my view, I feel Sanders genuinely sees this as his best possible strategy to achieve a victory for progressive politics in future elections. And whilst I have some reservations, he has vastly more knowledge and experience of the US political system than I do, so he is likely right. I have no doubts about his personal integrity whatever.
Typical democracy doesn’t go my way so that = fraud argument. Sorry, i don’t believe it. Maybe if it was the EU who have open contempt for democracy but if the US government did fraud why isn’t Jebb Bush in Donald Trump’s place?
Tell it to Stanford University… hardly a hotbed of pinkos.
And your idiotic comment is simply reversed…
eg ‘Typical, democracy goes their way, so fraud could not possibly have ocurred… ‘
Yet… in general, we know categorically from past experience and proven evidence that fraud in elections *does* ocurr in the US and most other societies, in its variety of forms.
Bernie has betrayed the magnificent movement which grew around him.
no wonder everyone laugh at ye lot, well then again i suppose that is the purpose of your existence :D
no doubt bernie still thinks he is a socialist :D
By trying to keep Trump out?
Angry socialists like you Wally are never happy with any compromise. That’s why you don’t get into positions of real influence.
Wally – are you familiar with the term ‘Lesser of two evils’?
just shows how easily lefties can be bought
So has Paul Murphy( gives half he wages to he’s mates expects the Irish tax payer to pay he’s legal fees) but I don’t hear you complaining about him.
Roy,
Do understand that Murphy needs legal aid because he, 2 of the AAA councilors and 18 residents of Jobstown have been charged with false imprisonment (carrying a maximum life sentence) for the heinous crime of sitting down behind Joan Burton’s car.
Murphy was granted legal aid as the state decided to press the extremely serious charge of false imprisonment against him and the other protestors in the Circuit criminal court. Had the case gone ahead in the lower District court, then he wouldn’t have been eligible for legal aid.
The judge having looked at Murphy’s means has granted legal aid. Are you aware that the legal costs for a 4-6 week trial in the Circuit criminal are an estimated €100k which is more than double the annual TD’s salary after tax?
http://www.thejournal.ie/paul-murphy-legal-fees-2752580-May2016/
Wally isnt Paul Murphy apart of the “bourgeoise” hes a pretty little rich kid with family connections. Wouldn’t a movement that claims to represent the working class (who largely don’t vote for them) disassociate with such types?
Why is it all socialist movements seem to have some spoilt upper middle class ideologue at the forefront?
you hold someone against there will you should get done for it.. The man needs legal aid?, he gets paid more than I do(I’m a qualified electrical so I have a well paid job). I bet I wouldn’t get free legal aid. But hey can’t have any ass member spending he’s own “hard” earned money defending himself for his own actions.
lets hope its worth the money and he gets a hefty sentence :)
Lesser of two evils? Nobody more evil than that creature of a woman Hillary Clinton.
Trump will change america for the better! #centipede #trumptrain #presidentdaddy #makesverythinggreatagain
Ok trump or Hilary ? Hilary is under FBI investigation , 20% of her donations comes from the Saudi royals who just so happens to execute homosexuals and infringe on human rights including women’s rights , mental that feminists and liberals actually support Hilary , she is unpopular in America with a lot of democrat supporters vowing to vote for trump instead of Hilary . Very bad decision by Bernie
@Sully
It wouldn’t matter if Saudi funded 100% of her campaign.
As soon as any link to Islam is identified, a cloaking device is activated within the brains of all Left/Liberal minded people.
Where do you suppose Trump’s funding comes from? All those US college students that his “university” scammed out of money?
Nah , taking money from a psychopath royal family that infringes on human rights , women’s rights and gay rights, also biggest supporter of wahabism , ISIS and global terrorism is worse than running a college .
Politics is about compromise so he is not selling out. Taking the easy way out and shouting from the sidelines is not the way to go like some in this country. Get into a position of power and try to change things from within.
I wonder has Hillary given him the nod for VP?
100% agree with you Wally. She may have promised him a senior ministry but reality will be otherwise. He has however started a new era in American politics. The power of social media and the dwindling effects of establishment media outlets like fox and the power and success of huge scale fundraising via social media. The tide is turning and the insidious 1% in that country have passed their finest hour.
It’s times like this you realize just how ill informed far left and socialist campaigners like you and Wally really are…. Senior ministry, REALLY?!?
The US government doesn’t have ministers, have you ever heard a minister for anything in the US. That’s a feature of the U.K, Irish and other commonwealth parliaments.
The Legislative and Executive branches of the US government are completely separate. Ministers report to a Prime Minister(head of government) all of which are members of a (typically lower) House of Parliament. The US president has secretarial cabinet positions which function as advisors and delegates.
So I affiliate with an American Democrat candidate and that makes me a far left socialist?!! You can categorise me in any way you want. Irrelevant to me. Iguess you and the rest of your fellow American ‘illuminati’ on this thread feel the need to enlighten us all on the benefits of ‘democracy’ and the US interpretation of that. The reality is Hilary and Bernie will make extremely incompatible bed fellows.It wont auger well. He has started a movement that is anti the current insidious establishment and it wont stop now. Good for him and good for everyone that sees and realises that America is the most disparate society in tems of wealth distribution on earth.
No you affiliate with Wally Moloney… That makes you a crazy far left socialist.
The revolution in danger
Sanders is a decent sensible person . He’s doing this for American citizens. They must win to stop this trump nut becoming President. America IS a great country.
This election cycle is such a mess that really there doesn’t seem to be any right moves no matter what you do.
Bernie will get hate for supporting Clinton, but he’d get hate if he didn’t.
How bad do the two major party candidates have to be before Americans start voting third party?
@Graham Kavanagh
If the gay agenda is important to you – how could you possibly NOT vote Trump?
He will confront Islam, whereas Hillary will not – she will not even acknowledge it has an issue in its treatment of minorities.
Clinton refuses to confront the group who want to;
1) at very best criminalise homosexuals (in case you were unaware this view is verifed as being held by 1 in 2 Muslims in the United Kingdom)
2) at worst throw gays from a cliff, then throw rocks at the corpse to stop the gay spreading
If we imagine just for a single moment that Trump isn’t down with gay marriage, or even lets say he wants to ban bakeries from baking wedding cakes for gay weddings, you still must think this poses a better future than having Clinton embrace the Islamist ideology.
20% of Hillary C’s campaign ‘donations’ come from the Saudi Arabia, a country where you can be murdered just for being gay. Then on the other hand HC is all sympathetic to the families of the Orlando killings….a bit of a HYPOCRITE don’t you think folks?
have your say