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Updated 11.35am
A NEW POLITICAL party called the Social Democrats has been launched by three independent TDs this morning.
A formal launch by independent TDs Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow), Catherine Murphy (Kildare North) and Róisín Shortall (Dublin North-West) took place in Dublin with the new party pledging to abolish water charges and repeal the 8th Amendment.
The party will have a “shared leadership” in the lead-up to the general election with a new leader to be voted on by its parliamentary party after that election.
Donnelly said that in the interim decisions will be made by consensus but added that where there is an impasse there will be a vote of the three founding members.
Launching the party today, he said:
The Irish people deserve more than this and are demanding more than this. New vision, fresh ideas, better approaches. This is what needs to be put in place and ultimately that is what the Social Democrats and today is about.
https://vine.co/v/erADzxhZDgU
Independent Dublin city councillor Gary Gannon is among those involved with the new party as is former Fingal lord mayor Cian O’Callaghan.
The party said today that it has made no formal approaches to elected representatives about joining but hopes to hold talks in the coming weeks.
Donnelly said there had been discussions with independent senator Katherine Zappone but said she had done “the right thing” by deciding to run as an independent in Dublin South-West.
Shortall said the party hopes to run as many candidates as possible at the next general election.
Among the Social Democrats’ priorities are to reduce bankruptcy to one year, improve the mortgage-to-rent scheme and end zero-hour contracts for workers.
Speaking at the launch today, Donnelly said that the party would abolish water charges if in government and would seek to guarantee the public ownership of the country’s water system.
He said that Irish Water had been set up with the intention of privatising the provision of water and claimed:
The money collected from water charges if there was 100 per cent payment… would fund the cost of collecting the charges and nothing else. That is absolutely barking mad.
Donnelly said he “probably” would pay his water charges but wasn’t sure whether he had yet as he is moving house. Shortall and Murphy both said they haven’t paid.
The party is proposing that €1.5 billion extra spending available to the government at the next budget should be split 2:1 in favour of spending increases relative to tax breaks as opposed to the 50:50 split being favoured by the coalition.
On political reform the party wants a secret ballot to elect the Dáil Ceann Comhairle and to reduce the power of the party whip.
Shortall explained the Social Democrats would favour a Westminster-style three line whip system where some votes are not as binding on members as others.
On abortion, the party wants to repeal the 8th Amendment with Shortall saying it should be replaced with legislation.
Shortall also said the party would be pursuing the “Nordic model of social democracy” with one of its key aims to provide “affordable, quality childcare” including up to 12 months parental leave.
Murphy said the party wants to abolish the Official Secrets Act and replace it with legislation that is underpinned by “openness being the key to good governance”.
The party also wants to establish an Electoral Commission with a “very wide remit”, Murphy said.
A new website, socialdemocrats.ie, carries details about the new party and pages that include information on its ideas, how to get involved and how to donate to the new party.
The three founding members said today that the genesis of the Social Democrats was in discussions that began in January over coffee in Shortall’s kitchen.
“We eventually decided we had to sit down and talk about this,” Murphy said today.
The party does not have a target in terms of funding and says its operation so far has been backed by their own money.
https://vine.co/v/erAlJ2q0Kbz
I would have preferred a cool name like “The Avengers”…something different!
Maybe it’ll be the RENUA we’re looking for! Cause Lucinda’s party was a shite idea!
I think they should have used wrestling stable names. Like “The Nation of Domination”, or “D Generation X”
Donnelly is a bit of a spoofer, but good luck to them.
It doesn’t matter which of them you vote for our world is doomed.
Stephen Donnelley #legand
If you were running for election he’d vote for you.
They are the latest in Louise Walshes lineup boy/girl band.
Lets hope that they can all sing in tune with each other.
@ chris I hope Louise doesn’t join up!!!!
After listening to the arrogance and the bullying of Alan Kelly on Newstalk this morning he has probably sent another few thousand votes heading in the Social Democrats way?.
I’ll definitely consider these in the ge
Syriza 2
Then again, this government hasn’t really cared much for conflicts of interest in relation to Ministers now have they? Look no further than McNultygate and Mr Kenny and the fact that James Reilly has shares in private nursing homes and was Minister for Health. Pure joke this place is.
Yeah Vin and I’ve no doubt Alan the bully boy Kelly gets lots of advice from his corporate brother?.
There really is no shifting this guy he’s not for turning but after his latest outbursts of bully boy threats surely the people will shift his sorry ass at the next GE?.
They’ll have my vote anyway.
It was Pat Kenny I heard him on….
I think it looks promising. But what can a party of 3 really achieve?
“From little acorns……”
So William – you can’t take incoming fire.
Irish Water is a public sector company, employing public sector workers, providing a public infrastructure that current and future generations need. So stop the name calling and make your right wing case.
Brian Brennan
They should call it AUNER and they and RENUA could both call each other backwards.
I hope they can form a coalition of the left after the GE!
After Renua’s and Shane Ross’s launch fiascos, this one seems to have been very well planned. No 9-month wait about naming the party. Three confirmed party members of more or less the same mindset who are definitely going to run for election (unlike the dithery Eddie Hobbs who thinks he’s too important to give us, the voters, an honest answer).
Anyway, I like all three of these politicians. In fact, they’re the only three politicians in the country that I can tolerate right now!
Yeah, Shorthall is in my constituency and always seems to be honest and on the ball.
Strongest looking new party yet, Best of luck to them.
I will be very interested in this.
shortall lost her handy junior ministers gig if not she would be still in the tent backing every aspect of the program for government don’t kid yourselves.
she designed!
resigned!
jumped before she was pushed same thing
She resigned on a point of principle.
not be so nieve she had a personality clash with the minister and jumped before the reshuffle.
“You’re going to release a statement saying you’re jumping before you’re pushed but obviously we’ll be breifing that you were pushed.”
I disagree Paul..would have been much easier for her to take the back seat..same wages and benefits and less hassle. She didn’t take the easy route though and today we have at least some benefits from that.
no for me fozz she had a personality clash with Reilly and she was always going to finnish second Irish politics has no principles.
“Three confirmed party members of more or less the same mindset” to get relected and thats about it. They can’t even decide who is leader, imagine if any of them had a chance at a ministers position, the egos on them.
@dmn: well surely if none of them are jumping at the chance to be leader does that not tell you that they have no egos on them?!!?
thicks
@dmn. Donnelly said they couldn’t realistically have a leader, a deputy leader and a “follower”. There are 3 of them, not 33. Let’s give them a chance.
You could set up your own party (call it “Fianna DMN”) and you could elect yourself leader!
Paul Dunne, is having a personality clash with James Reilly supposed to be a bad thing?
And while I think it’s good to be cynical about politics and politicians, it actually isn’t the least bit constructive to assume other people disagree with you because they’re naïve.
Or “nieve”, sorry.
I welcome this news. 3 principled and grounded politicians. Many obstacles and lots of hard work ahead – I wish them well. Am slightly concerned that, initially at least, they are all based in the Dublin/Greater Dublin area – hope that they establish a base with credible candidates in Connacht and Munster also. I would definitely support a genuine Nordic/Liberal/ Social Dem party.
shortall and Murphy interview on last word shortall talked about changing the way politics is done and the evil wip system these where never an issue while in labour for years, she talks about ministerial accountability again never mentioned while in government they both got asked about paying their water bills Murphy said no immediately shortall went into a speech to run the clock down and never answered a policy which she supported in the program for government,new broom me hole a woman scorned and Mark your spelling correction makes you look like a dick.
Meh. It’s not difficult to get a spell-checker, chum. What makes your posts border on unreadable is the lack of punctuation. “and never answered a policy which she supported in the program for government,new broom me hole a woman scorned” – I don’t have a clue what this means.
And I really don’t know what your point is besides this drivel anyway.
You can hardly speak out about the whip system while in the party, because then you’re *in the party* and the whip / solidarity / party mentality applies! Do you think people have to be complete rogues, or else they’re without principles? Why join a political party at all then, eh?
They’ve now said “no”, “no”, and “probably” (Donnelly) to paying water bills. They are free to say yes or no: if they pay, then they’re giving their own money towards public spending. If they don’t, then they’re supporting the non-payment by other individuals. Either one is a defensible position.
And what is your issue with them, anyway? You don’t like these individuals, or you don’t think they’re anti-water enough, or what? Help me out here.
I like it that they’ve decided not choose a leader until they have more people on board. They don’t need a leader when there are only three of them.
We used to have a social democratic party, they were called Labour. They ran on universal free up front college, no water charges, no new stealth taxes..wonder what happened to them?
Resistance was futile, with no backbone……they were assimilated by the FG Borg.
Resistance was not futile Al Ca, resistance was non existent. When you read back over the comments and opinions of some of the front line ministers like Rabbitte, Burton, Gilmore the evidence is clear. The formation of the gang of four was probably the first indication of Labour’s abandonment of Social Democracy.
Who? …….
I agree with the rest Ryan but not on the point that Labour ran on “no new stealth taxes.” See the below from Cormac Lucey on their 2011 manifesto:
“Labour argued for €4.1b in current spending cuts and €2.9b in tax increases over the years 2012-2014 i.e. they argued that tax increases should constitute around 48% of the required budgetary adjustment.”
http://cormaclucey.blogspot.de/2014/02/labours-fiscal-policy-victory.html
They weren’t against increasing taxation, they just conveniently forgot to say what tax increases they would make…
Ryan, labour always ran the line between champagne socialism and centre right politics… their leaders were always either student activists or wealthy idealists who always ended up taking the fat at the top, like the union leadership that helped get elected with. this new party seems to be beyond loyalties to unions, private groupings and the old guard (church and daddy’s seat etc). hopefully they find enough qualified candidates to make a difference at the next election.
Yep, it’s pretty much Labour with out being tarnished by austerity.
Lecut-hoorist of Borg. (One for the Trekkies)
P.S. Star Wars mugs, move on. I’m not getting into it now.
Can’t be a bad thing at all. Quite a fan of all three. Left wing solidarity is what’s needed
solidarity with what?
One another? Maybe, who knows. Aliens
Exactly; the left in this country are so fractured it’s almost comical. For example; in the last election, Paul Murphy asked a PBP candidate to step aside as he feared that two left wing candidates would split the left vote… Comical stuff; imagine a FG candidate asking a FF candidate to step aside in case they split the centre right vote?
How’s life in that fantasy land, Todd?
Jelly I believe ………..
Haha fantasy land. Privatisation of wealth and socialisation of debt, that would be fantasy land. Ah wait…
solidarity is a fantasy? jaysus.
we’ve gone so far to the right, that we call it centre. we need to move to the left, if only to get closer to the middle ground.
I actually like Roisin she lives behind me in the same estate and I often meet her out walking the dog, she’s lovely!!! And her monthly newsletter in the postbox is always very informative. She is one of the genuine ones in my opinion!!
But jaysis that Lucinda one and Eddie da Hobb!!! Do they think we’re all on drugs!!! Not a bleedin chance is vote for them!!!
They’re not in this party. That’s renua
Three of the most honest and informed TD’s in Dail Eireann.
Definitely get my vote.
Including their support of repealing the 8th amendment?
That’s a strong point in their favour in my opinion AIlbhe
The stronger the opposition to what we have the better for everyone
I fear the way we do politics these days is unrepresentative of the people, and is only representative of corporation and profit. Regardless of party. Would love to see a party change this but you can’t blame people for being sceptical!
This is how three educated, well respected, well informed TD’s launch a new political party.
Take note Lucinda
Give up and join them, Lucinda.
Ireland does not need FG/Renua.
She’s “Fine Gael to my back bone” n renua r more FG than FG themselves.
I like this party, I don’t want to see Lucinda anywhere near it.
Not sure Ireland needs Lucinda and her movable principles. She’s not in the same class as Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shortall. Moreover, she’s not a social democrat – she’s pretty right-wing, a natural Fine Gaeler (or Labour, now).
In Catherine Murphy’s constituency -definitely get my vote. All competent politicians, best of luck to them.
The 7.5% Interest comment on a large commercial loan shows how competent she is. She had to jazz up the story with nonsense for her own political gain. DOB wasn’t buying a sofa in Argos.
Stephen Donnelly is a shrewd boy and probably the only politician qualified to do what their doing in there.
I will listen to what they have to say and then decide.
It’s what they do that you should pay attention to, because we all know that politicians never to what the say!
Stephen Donnelly came into my old office and I mistook him for another guy called Stephen who was supposed to be coming in at the same time to discuss installing a vending machine. I was wondering why he was so well-dressed.
Anyway Stephen Donnelly was very modest and humble and not at all offended when I didn’t recognise him as a TD and that I thought he could be a vending machine engineer. Anyway, he’d get my vote.
Proper laughed at this.
Did he sort the vending machine?
a vote because he didn’t take the hump when you didn’t cop who he was,, fantastic way of deciding who to vote for mother of christ no wonder we get clowns in the Dail.
You really know how to make yourself popular Paul Dunne. I see a political career in your future. Not.
At last a new party who actually listen & know what we want & need . Not arrogant not liars not false pretences no false commitments. Let’s hope they this gov down .
I Blame Alan Shatter and Labour
Wow gkrell, tell me more about this hateful paradise of which you speak.
See, Irish Water? THIS is a solid start.
Hopefully they have a good plan and clear, realistic policies. Donnelly, Murphy and Shortall are all likeable people with integrity. I’m cautiously optimisitic.
With stephen Donnelly on board, they are always going to get my vote!
Good luck to them! They’re the three best TDs in that place
A lot of the electorate will go to the booths this time with the same mentality as last time.
Anyone but FF last time.
Anyone but FG/LAB this time.
So these guys will take a big chunk of votes.
Wish the luck, as I said , any alternative…
Time to bury the Labour Party.
Discredited and disenfranchised.
They need Paul Murphy…………to bring down the average iq
check out the big brain on this guy, I bet you had to use every one of your 40 IQ points to come up with that astute political comment, you clown.
I hope there are more people of this caliber waiting in the wings to join them. If they joined up with Shane Ross and his band of independents they would be a force to be reckoned with. I have all the time in the world for Shortall ever since she showed her integrity by resigning in the face of O’Reilly’s intransigence when he was criticized for favouring his own consituency on new hospital proposals. Unlike her junior minister at the time, Frances Fitzgerald, who sat smugly mute and waited for her promotion. These three seem to be politicians of integrity and I ‘d vote for them.
Shane Ross is a bit of a slimeball, I got a really poor impression off him when he was out canvassing before. I’d rather he stayed well away from these guys as they’re looking pretty good from where I stand
Ross is a TOTAL slimeball. I remember his columns well during the boom; leading the cheerleading and encouraging property speculation. The the proverbial hit the fan and, for some reason, the media, who was so heavily complicit in what happened, more or less got a free ride. Shane Ross was then made a member of the pointless PAC, acting all shocked when he hears of this and that. Shane Ross is a total and utter hypocrite; a snake in the grass.
Frances Fitzgerald was a cabinet minister at the time, for Children, so your point is not understood re her sitting smugly and mute. Maybe you are referring to Kathleen Lynch who was the other junior health minister at the time and still is?
I stand corrected, it was Kathleen Lynch. Apologies to Frances Fitzgerald – they do look a bit alike.
Good luck to them. Hopefully run as many candidates as possible. Will take more support of the shinners
Aye, and the dopes that voted FG thinking they would get what was promised.
I’m not sure if they will, as much as you’d love to see that. A lot of people who voted labour but won’t vote SF might just have found a party to their liking
they couldn’t be worse that the usual shower of shitehawks who only look after themselves and their rich cronies. Catherine Murphy is an honest and very experienced TD. Best of luck to them and Shane Ross group
Def getting my vote…. Love Roisin Shorthall . …. Delighted!
And after the arrogance of Alan Kelly this morning on Pat Kenny ??? He ‘s going to be in for some shock after the next election . You cannot bully and threaten people after years and years of austerity …. and still expect them to be on your side !! His arrogance was staggering!
My thoughts exactly after listening to our Minister for Environment speak on the radio this morning. I found him very unpleasant to listen to.
Finally a party with at least a chance of being something I can vote for without feeling like I’m choosing the least bad option. If Shortall runs in the same constituency as usual I may actually get to vote for them as well
I hate them already, rabble, rabble
Have a lot of time for theses guys, but its a pity they never rose to the idea back in 2012 -13 and 14 when approach several times with similar principles! They could have more meat on the bones by now. But still, the old saying “every hairdresser dreams of their own salon one day” and therein is the epitaph of Irish politics – so not much changes. Good luck lads n lasses, hope you get the cash to keep the wagon rolling :)
Clean Water should be free for all, this is not Waterworld
None of them have any *macro* economics understanding unfortunately.
No matter how well intended, simply going along with mainstream Groupthink (intellectual fraud, believing micro economics describes macro etc) means neoliberal economic policy by default.
Until large numbers of us correctly understand the Monetary system and Macro Economics policy options that flow logically from that…well, we are going to continue to be ruled by Bankers and other Capital owners, for their narrow interests.
I’m only aware of one person sitting in the Dail who has even remotely adequate knowledge in this vital area. The rest, including Ministers are clueless… that is, of course, their value to the Euro overlords. They are so ignorant they do not need to lie to us…
(Senator Sean Barrat, who wrote a piece here recently, clearly knows Monetary systems and their history to an astonishing level.)
Well Mike…I have spoken to Donnelly and Murphy and both are totally against burning taxpayers money over the next 40 yrs to pay for the zombie banks..you can bet destroying taxpayers money at the behest of the ECB will be high on the agenda.
Hopefully a progressive and pragmatic political party.
I hope this works out. We really do need this alternative.
I like this. listened to roisin shortall speaking on Sean o’rourke this morning and she sounded knowledgable, confident and assured in their aims. She doesn’t think Irish water will last much longer either
All parties talk about real change but that doesnt necessarily reflect into positive change for the people of Ireland.
Great news. I met Stephen at an event in Wicklow and chatted to him about economics for quite a while, he’s really on the ball. Same goes for Catherine and Roisin, these will get my vote.
If they run in my constituency, I guarantee them my No 1.
Abolish Irish Water…I’m with ya Roisin
Just what we need, more liberal socialist tree huggers… tin foil hat time.
….as opposed to elitists stuffing their pockets with taxpayers money because they made bad investments?
BTW….nice foil hat you have there.
Privatise profit, socialise deficit. Oh Capitalism you deceitful little darling you
The Trolls must have got a heads up on this one. wonder who wrote …..Oh.
Well look, it’s nice to have more competition against FF and FG at least. I like some of their ideas and would at least consider my vote going their way, too easy to jump on the bandwagon but look were we are coming from.. I voted Labour last GE , what a mistake that was!!! We will see the same ridicule thrown at this new party from FG as they have thrown at many of their opponents, but I hope they at least they get somewhere
A welcome addition to a stagnant political arena full of grey haired men who have been arguing about various different ways to misspend and mismanage huge quantities of tax payers money for generations now.
Change is needed and I believe the Soc Dems along with other the other rising leftist movements can bring about that change.
The technical group has performed extremely well over the course of this Dail , they have been the only real credible opposition and have been at the forefront of every major issue in the last number of years.The GSOC bugging, Shattergate & numerous cases of Garda corruption, NAMA, Siteserv, Dennis O Brien and on and on…. They took the lead on all these issues only to have them hijacked by opportunism from the larger parties and their buddies in the media who have an interest in keeping that status quo.
I can’t vote for any of the three founding members of the SocIal Democrats. None of them represent my constituency. But I will be on the lookout for like minded progressive individuals in my area ahead of the general election & hopefully if there are enough of them on the ballot they can form a government and put and end to the civil war politics that has put our Republic into reverse since its formation.
Another Social Democratic party? Just what this country needs.
What is the name of the other Social Democrat party? Surely not Labour?
Well, I don’t think Labour could possibly get more right wing, even if it had Donald Trump at the helm.
No, not another, a real one, with real vision, the country needs a REAL Social Democratic party ………and we just got it.
Along with the Irish water news and the Sun coming out could today get any better for Ireland.
It must be very cold out I have just seen a FG td with his hand in his own pocket.
no chris, all have gotten is the same sound bite from a different person appealing to the voters that actually believe it. I would love to ask them what are their detailed plans to get rid of Irish water? As we have learned from Greece, its one thing to create a policy, its another to actually implement it. The Irish voters deserve to know their detailed plans before they vote. They don’t actually have any plans, as the know they will never be in power.
well they can’t be any worse than Labour
Social Democrats ! Are they progressive?
We could do with a Catherine Murphy in every constituency. A bright determined lady, and Shortall had the courage of her convictions. Donnelly is very smart, but not clear on his political leanings, and yes to their Irish Water policy!
This is a party I would vote for, people who care about the country instead of the corporate traitors we have for a government in FG.
I have, on this forum, described myself as a libertarian and a Social Democrat. We may be looking at the germ of something actually GOOD for this country and civil society as a whole. I had my doubts about Donnelly as being ‘too PD for my liking ‘. I heard him speak today and am in accord with what he said. If only I were thirty years younger :-D
I’m soooooo boorrrrrrrreeed.
Abolishing the Official Secrets Act is a silly sound-bite policy. There are many good reasons why some things have to be kept secret until the right moment. By all means strengthen the Freedom of Information act (though it’s already been significantly strengthened by the current Government, after Fianna Fail / PDs emasculated it previously), but allowing a free-for-all with information is just not serious. No serious organisation – public or private – allows its staff to publish all of its internal paperwork. It’s a sure way of ensuring that civil servants will stop putting anything down on paper lest their work gets leaked by a colleague. There’d be constant media flurries over all sorts of proposals that emanate from the most junior civil servants and that don’t have any real status. Ultimately, this would lead to poorer decisions.
Apart from all that, there would be a hugely increased risk of conflicts of interest and backhanders. Imagine a junior civil servant in the Department of Finance hands over a policy document proposing an increase in stamp duty at the next budget to a property company and they then act on that before the budget, saving themselves hundreds of thousands of euros. Or imagine that the IDA is trying to attract a high-profile overseas company promising thousands of jobs to Ireland and some junior official leaks the details to the media before the Board of that company has even considered the option. Say goodbye to those jobs.
In any business the boss is privy to what is going on yes? They are entitled to know what their staff are doing, yes?
So why shouldn’t the people know what their elected government are doing on their behalf? These guys work for us, the people, we are their bosses, we decide to hire and fire them – so why shouldn’t we know what the hell they are up to? Especially when it comes to decisions that will have an effect on all of us, like, er, the Bank Guarantee, the bail out, and everything that went on that we are allegedly trying to get to the bottom of at present (which seems to be all turning into a “blame the dead guy” affair).
And funnily enough, even in spite of a “secrets act” it seems no one kept records or notes.. So we would never be able to get justice for the electorate, and all those involved can skip merrily to the bank with their substantial payments.. Be they ex politicians or developers in NAMA (and just think, you get paid to be in NAMA, but you can only be in NAMA if your debts are astronomical.. A debt of €15m wouldn’t even get you in there)
The rest of us? Well.. We have to bear the cost of these very well paid mens debts. Despite the fact that most of us are struggling and are not responsible for the majority of the mess created in this (and other) countries.
We were told we partied too hard, but I seem to remember a lot of this spreading as contagion from Lehmann Brothers collapse in the US. And that came from their sub prime mortgages, and that was ENTIRELY the fault of the banks lending to people without the capacity to repay.
And yet those bankers are still sitting on their millions. Those developers get paid to be monumentally in debt.. And us – the majority, the ones who were told we were in control? We are being taken for chumps.
(sorry. I ended up ranting a bit there)
It’s all a question of striking an appropriate balance. There are plenty of ways for people to find out what the Government is doing: Departments publish annual reports and all sorts of strategy statements, white papers and green papers. They issue press releases galore. Ministers answer questions in the Dáil and the Seanad on a constant basis and these can be found at a touch of a button – see the Oireachtas website or https://www.kildarestreet.com. There is also a very robust and recently-strengthened Freedom of Information Act, and enquiries are now entirely free, following recent amendments by the Government. And the Government recently signed up to the Open Government Partnership and published a detailed Action Plan – see http://www.per.gov.ie/open-government-partnership-ogp/. Finally, it’s also open to anyone to simply write an e-mail or letter to any Minister and get a reply. But it’s an entirely different thing to say that all Government business should be done in the glare of the public eye. The process that leads to a Government decision on any given issue involves lots of consultation, consideration of options etc. Most important decisions also involve formal consultation with relevant stakeholders outside of Government. But there is a time and a place for such consultation to happen, and a time for it to end, so that decisions can be taken in a timely manner. As it is, civil servants spend so much time drafting replies to parliamentary questions, responding to freedom of information requests and dealing with other miscellaneous media queries that the time available for the actual formulation and implementation of policy is much reduced. Whether people believe it or not, we already have a very transparent and accessible system of Government in Ireland, by any measure.
This is a party that could do very well.
The Social Justice party has a nice ring to it. I hope their polices are clear and costed
ABORTIONS FOR ALL!
NO IRISH WATER!
Lets just tell people what they want to hear, and give no detail on how these policies would be implemented. Getting rid of Irish water would cost a few hundred million. Paul Murphy says 100m, the current government says over 900m, so lets meet in the middle and say 450M. So it would cost us more than what the government will get from the sale of Aer Lingus. The Tax Payer has to take that bill, and also take the cost of funding our water supply into the future, so either a tax or VAT increase to cover that. Many of the Irish water employees are public servants that have “jobs for life” and cant be just fired. What will be done with these people? Where will they go?
A party with just 3 people can make as many pre election promises as they want, as they will NEVER be in power.
Don’t forget free childcare and “solving” the mortgage crisis. Is there anything they can’t do? Populist BSers
why not give everyone a new car?
They look interesting but policies are a bit thin.
Has anyone heard of raspberry leaf tea speeding up labour or is it a scam? Think good to Have different options available to women only wouldn’t consider home birth myself.
Has their launch manifesto mentioned how many pieces of silver they can be bought for to get into power?
I thought Donnelly had more gravitas than this populist nonesense
If he was as smart As he thinks he is I would heave presumed he would have a better vision for the future of the country than this rubbish
USC??????
Sure just let the workers keep paying for the lot with this unjust tax.
USC isn’t that bad, it stops people hiding there high income in pensions to pay no income tax. Low paid can’t afford to do that. Why is it unjust vs say PAYE?
I sincerely hope there is not whiff of scandal that will appear in connection with Donnelly, Shortall and Murphy over the next several years. I do mean that. At present they represent the few politicians whose reputations haven’t been damaged in the current Dail. I’d hate to see that change, but politicians are politicians and I don’t want to be naive either.
Straight away, they will have my vote. Can’t go wrong with Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shortall.
More mopes
They sound pretty good to me, Enda !
a load of bullshit
how exciting, could they not have come up with something a bit more original, say something like the democratic socials. now there’s a name with flair.
Considering your own name, you really can’t talk.
What were your parents thinking calling you Cupid?
I’m a young guy interested in politics (starting a master’s in it soon) and have been asked several times – “what party are you for?” Consistently replying “no party – far too young to decide my political beliefs” however this new party appear to be a good choice for someone as young and perhaps naïve as I may be – really making me consider looking into this further – great to see a majority of positive responses to SD party also – difficult for a new party in the early days of establishing itself as it can be very easily criticised but you can see the experience of the three TDs in the planning and preparation for this!! Rome wasn’t built in a day so I’m glad they have not gotten everything together just yet, it means those that join the SD party can have an input in the direction of the party and stances on certain issues and at the very least it’s another option for the Irish people come GE time.
I wasn’t sold on RENUA (not many were) and was worried that their poor performance would dent the chances of others establishing alliances or parties such as this but thankfully that is not the case. Best of luck to them – interesting few months ahead I’m sure
I’ll believe that caption when I see it. No such thing as a trustworthy Irish politician these days.
If they’re serious about this then one of the policies they need to adopt is for a provision for direct democracy. The only real power the Irish people have is that our constitution can only be changed by referendum. We need to expand that power. What I suggest is that any citizen can come up with a proposal, be it to legalise cannabis, repeal the 8th, abolish water charges, make Tayto Cheese & Onion our national dish…whatever. Any citizen can come up with a proposal, but that proposal needs to be signed by a significant portion of the electorate, let’s say 5% of eligible voters (maybe 10%). If that number is reached, then the proposal goes to referendum and if passed, must be signed into law with 6 months, assuming the proposal meets certain legal and constitutional standards.
It doesn’t matter what they want as the Troika will tell them to do what the Troika wants…
Anything bad for you these days has a 3 somewhere in it, like the Troika for one?
another ‘watershed’!
So Willam Boyd cannot take incoming fire from AK47.
keep your right wing head down William. Irish Water is a public sector company, employing public sector workers providing essential public sector services
so William Boyd can’t take incoming fire from the AK47.
Irish Water is a Public Sector Company, employing Public Sector workers and providing key Public Infra-structure that current and future generations of Irish people need. So please William don’t hide behind name calling – just come straight out with your right wing anti-public sector ideology.
have your say