Originally Posted by staunch ff

For goodness sake the Blueshirts have never been in touch !!

Originally Posted by constitutionus

the comments from FG heads over lee arent about being out of touch.

its about damage control and spin to smear lee as a guy who "bottled it", or is a "prima donna that threw his rattle out of his pram/ messianic egotist that couldnt hack it "

ALL so they dont have to deal with the truth.

that the party system itself is set up for the status quo and NONE of em, FG/FF/LAB, want that cushy crony driven gravy train derailed.


the real story in this affair is how the body politic itself is now corrupted as outsiders arent welcome if they have ridiculous notions like actually changing how things are done and rewarding people on the grounds of talent instead of seniority . in fact more than that it screams one very simple question.

why the hell would anyone with ability go into politics in this country as it stands?

as we can see from a cursory demographic breakdown of the dail, if your not a teacher/barrister/doctor/ publican- you wont.

Originally Posted by consultant

All true, unfortunately, and deeply depressing.

There isn't even a 'best' of this bad lot.

Originally Posted by consultant

Listening to Fine Gael members, TD’s and senior party members in the fall-out from the George Lee resignation has me convinced that, despite any constituency clinics they may hold, they are out of touch with a significant degree of public mood and perception.

Regardless of whether or not Lee was right to resign, the fact is that, in doing so, he has touched and exposed the nerve of people of all Party persuasion who are in despair of our current national state and the inability of the “Irish political system” to correct it. He referred to the unemployment, banks and emigration crises and said that he wanted to see these addressed now, not to be allowed drift further and to create more hardship.

The Liveline text poll yesterday produced a large response, apparently, with over 80% of those taking part agreeing with Lee’s decision. A fairly clear-cut result, I would have thought and when considered in light of his bye-election victory, an obvious endorsement of his demands for action and change.

This message is obviously lost on Enda Kenny and his party.

Indeed, FG and many political pundits have adopted a mantra that suggests that the “Irish political system” (substitute the phrase “Irish politics”, if you wish) is a tough onerous environment where rural TDs work exceptionally long hours helping constituents through their entitlements, attend funerals etc. and anyone who doesn’t serve a suitable apprenticeship in such essential duties does not deserve to be a TD. Without this apprenticeship and initiation, people are not ready to take on and fix our national woes. Without the “Irish political system”, the problems cannot be fixed.

Enda Kenny further said that an opposition cannot achieve anything. A Party must be elected to government to do so. But he and his colleagues are now going to concentrate on developing policies and strategies to tackle health, education, fiscal and myriad other issues ‘for when we are elected to government’. More of what they are “going” to do, nothing about what they have done to prepare for government at any time during his tenure; nothing about the ignored opportunities to legitimately pressurise the government – individually or collectively. If you think about it, the only change Fine Gael have brought about has been the resignation of John O’Donoghue and in that they trotted along behind Eamon Gilmore.

As others have already pointed out, the opposition have to hound, harass and where necessary, provoke the government every time they act outside what might be considered the best interests of the electorate. They need to elicit the support of public perception, to the point of incitement even, through sustained political opportunism. Cancel pairing arrangements. Milk every ounce of publicity available. And, most importantly, WANT FF and the Greens out.

Originally Posted by Sync

Obviously. Can't disagree with science. A strawpoll of people with nothing better to do with their afternoons than listen to Joe Duffy should be taken seriously.

Originally Posted by constitutionus

the real story in this affair is how the body politic itself is now corrupted as outsiders arent welcome if they have ridiculous notions like actually changing how things are done and rewarding people on the grounds of talent instead of seniority . that it screams one very simple question.

why the hell would anyone with ability go into politics in this country as it stands?

as we can see from a cursory demographic breakdown of the dail, if your not a teacher/barrister/doctor/ publican- you wont.