How would you rate the Government's first year in office? And how do you feel about the year ahead?

Its almost as if FF never left.

A sober, slimmer Cowen seems to be in charge of the same titanic heading in the same direction!

I fee great thanks,as for the government they have been found out to be spinners and pupils of the we are super positive bad news what bad news school, while all around know they are spoofers. second year should be good lets party.

Too much time spent spinning and looking after vested interests. Painfully slow on real action and reform. They had a very strong mandate to implement reform and change. Too many u-turns and caving in over the last 12 months.

Too few Ministers performing well (Burton, Noonan, Covney).

Very very disappointing. Doesn't look like we have the room to go FG's and Labour's way.

Id rate them excellent at Spin very Poor at substance.

For the future I think we will have more spin with people slowly waking upto the fact that FG/Labour are no better than FF and they are masters on Spin who are selling out the country.

I expect Ireland to eventually collapse economically in a similar style to Greece.

Originally Posted by ger12

Too much time spent spinning and looking after vested interests. Painfully slow on real action and reform. They had a very strong mandate to implement reform and change. Too many u-turns and caving in over the last 12 months.

Too few Ministers performing well (Burton, Noonan, Covney).

Very very disappointing.

Are you talking about the Green Party in Govt or FG/Lab there ger12??

Originally Posted by Kerry South

Id rate them excellent at Spin very Poor at substance.

For the future I think we will have more spin with people slowly waking upto the fact that FG/Labour are no better than FF and they are masters on Spin who are selling out the country.

I expect Ireland to eventually collapse economically in a similar style to Greece.

Just thought id get in in before all the Doom Porn club arrive!

A good first year considering the mess they inherited from FF. but cuts have to come in the top especially the politicians pay and their expenses and the top Public Servants also have to be cut. Top of the Banks also have to be cleaned up. Some good work done a lot more to do.

I think the Labour representatives are performing much better than their FG counterparts. I think there's room for improvement but the government needs to be a little tougher. Stop rowing back on everything or else you'll just be seen as a weak leadership easily buffed into any situation by a few protesters and a bit of media haranguing.

Originally Posted by OceanFrog

Are you talking about the Green Party in Govt or FG/Lab there ger12??

Hello there OceanFrog. Still chasing me. You pleased with the last twelve months?

Originally Posted by culmore

A good first year considering the mess they inherited from FF. but cuts have to come in the top especially the politicians pay and their expenses and the top Public Servants also have to be cut. Top of the Banks also have to be cleaned up. Some good work done a lot more to do.

What in the "good work" has impressed you the most?

Full marks for "spin" It's about the only thing they are any good at.

They can't tell the truth to us, but they can to Angela and her crew.

They can't even organize a knees up without making a balls of it.

But they are brilliant at looking after their "advisors" will even break their own pay guides for them.

Look at the bright side, they can't possibly get any worse, can they?

Originally Posted by culmore

A good first year considering the mess they inherited from FF. but cuts have to come in the top especially the politicians pay and their expenses and the top Public Servants also have to be cut. Top of the Banks also have to be cleaned up. Some good work done a lot more to do.

As that old football chant goes " ARE ye FF in disguise?"

In terms of public perception, this Government is fortunate in following the most incompetent, inert administration that Ireland has ever known. People find it re-assuring that those in executive power are literate and numerate and capable of taking some action. In terms of stability, I can't see any conflict within the coalition because Labour and Fine Gael are the same monetarist, free-market product in different packages.

I think that they probably will get a result on the Fiscal Treaty but things will go badly for them in the longer term. Austerity will stifle economic revival and the Government will be forced to make one cut too many. If a second bail-out is needed (no matter how that is tarted up), the public will see very clearly that the sacrifice was for nothing and that there's no way off the austerity treadmill.

I think that this government has undermined the very spirit of democracy and completely reneged on their mandate upon formation of a government.
I feel physically sick that i voted and campaigned for them in an attempt to rescue the country from the inept and shoddy FF greens. The FlabourG monster has consistently fought its people on behalf of the interests of foreign financial and political bodies.
I cringe at their self congratulation and creative accountancy. How they claim to stablise unemployment with out acknowledging the rate of emigration. I despair at the craic cocaine socialists who in a position of power would appear to be willing to leave a trail of dead, impoverished or compromised children, young families and old people abandoned on the road to croke park and frankfurt.

I call on the irish people to reject this failed government and spawn a new political movement that could grow from the ashes of a clear and resolute NO in the forth coming referendum.

Ger 12, just taking the mobile phone and the Car and VIP lounge at dublin airport from Bertie alone is good work. plenty of other examples but as i said a lot more HAS to be done.

Not too bad considering the mess they inherited.

Isn't it an awful pity we don't have a parliament where the Taoiseach could communicate to us from?

Walking around with a big smile these days.

This crap about being the same is a load of nonsense and takes a certain special something to harp on about it. FG said they would have to follow, broadly the same budgetry line as the previous gov. Income was not increased in the last budget and was in previous ones. Ministerial Merc and garda driver are gone for the vast majority of them. The country is finally out of the headlines, which in the context we were in this is a good thing.

knaves and fools

The expectations that this present government created in us as a people has been disappointed time and time again over the last year. To put a school teacher past retirement age in charge of finance should have told us what to expect. That is just one example of how they were prepared to make changes. The present government is a mirror image of the last government. They are all looking to the retirment package, they really don`t care!

We, the Irish people that is, will continue to suffer under the present lot. Until such a time as we either give them a kick in the bollix ( referendum ) or until we are austered into the ground, or are forced to leave like so many over the last year, will suffer all the more.

They are creating no hope, encouraging no dreams, taking for themselves in the same manner as ff, abandoning our youth & children through health and education cuts.

How long we are " willing " to put up with this I do not know. There surely must come a time when we shout, ENOUGH!