Ireland General Discussion

[Хahar 🤔]

The statute of limitations hasn't expired yet?

[Oakvale]

The statute of limitations hasn't expired yet?

To the best of my knowledge, there isn't one.

[Хahar 🤔]

Interesting. I thought there was a general amnesty.

[politicus]

Interesting. I thought there was a general amnesty.

Only for those already convicted.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Gerry Adams is released without charge as expected.

[Silent Hunter]

Gerry Adams is released without charge as expected.

Not quite out of the woods yet... PPSNI have been sent a file and may still decide to charge him.

[ObserverIE]

Gerry Adams is released without charge as expected.

Not quite out of the woods yet... PPSNI have been sent a file and may still decide to charge him.

It could also be seen as going into a holding pattern - that there may be insufficient evidence to make a charge stick (and the Sunday Times claimed today that the charge being considered was IRA membership) but sending it off to the PPS means that it remains in suspended animation rather than having to explicitly state that they don't have a case.

I'm not at all convinced that this is going to damage SF on either side of the border.

[ObserverIE]

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0506/615610-data-protection-law/

Should he go?

Will he go?

[ObserverIE]

Gerry Adams is released without charge as expected.

Not quite out of the woods yet... PPSNI have been sent a file and may still decide to charge him.

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https://twitter.com/williamcrawley/status/463372687088558080

[ObserverIE]

!!!!!!

[Oakvale]

Based on historical precedent, Shatter will make a startling political comeback among grassroots FG members and be Taoiseach in a decade.

[Simfan34]

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What sort of syntax is this? I'm assuming they're copying and pasting from the Hansard analogue but surely they could put in a bit more effort?

[Oakvale]

RTÉ isn't exactly known for its prose but I actually quite like that. It's like if Hemingway wrote about Irish parliamentary politics.

[ObserverIE]

Courtesy of Cedar Lounge Revolution, here are some local election advertisements from the Celbridge/Leixlip electoral area of County Kildare. For non-Irish, Celbridge and Leixlip are fairly prosperous Dublin commuter outer suburbia/exurbia just beyond the Dublin county boundary, Leixlip being known as the site of a large Intel chip fabrication plant.





Which party label might be even more toxic than Fianna Fáil's in an area as relatively unscathed by the crash as anywhere in Ireland? Answers on a postcard to Ely Place, Dublin 2.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Have they considered changing their name, perhaps to something more accurate?

[ObserverIE]

Have they considered changing their name, perhaps to something more accurate?

While Lyinguselessgobsh:tes passes the Trade Description Act, it might be a little hard to fit on a ballot paper.

[Oakvale]

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste return from burying Alan Shatter, mafia-style.

[ObserverIE]

Some more opinion polls in the lead-up to the local/European elections on May 23rd.

First a poll from RedC for the Sunday Business Post from earlier this month (a larger sample than usual because it was taken in conjunction with the European election opinion poll) but which only had headline figures published online :

FG 25 (-1)
Ind/Oth 23 (+3)
FF 21 (-1)
SF 18 (-3)
Lab 11 (+2)
GP 2 (-)

(GP figure assumed)

Now from this weekend:

Behaviour and Attitudes for the Sunday Times:

FG 26 (+5)
Ind/Oth 24 (-2)
SF 21 (+1)
FF 19 (-1)
Lab 7 (-2)
GP 2 (-2)

Another RedC, this time for The Sun (no data online that I can see):

FG 25 (-)
Ind/Oth 24 (+1)
FF 20 (-1)
SF 20 (+2)
Lab 8 (-3)
GP 2 (-)

(I think 8 is as low as Labour have ever been in a RedC poll.)

And finally, to throw the feline amongst the waddling grey flying rats, Millward Brown/IMS for today's Irish Independent. Gully may well be advised to look away now:

Ind/Oth 27 (+4)
SF 23 (+2)
FF 21 (-2)
FG 20 (-5)
Lab 6 (-)
GP 2 (-)

I think it's likely to be a rogue poll (with B&A's FG figure being a rebound to the mean from another rogue), much as I would love to see FG getting a hiding on Friday.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I literally LOLed at that ad today. Talk of desperation...  although at least we can clearly see the 'Labour' logo this time.

Gully may well be advised to look away now:

?

I'd laugh rather than cry at that result. Actually, I think I'd do that to any plausible result at this stage. But yes, it's probably a rogue poll. FG aren't doing that badly.

EDIT: Speaking of which, just realized, I was probably part of the sample of that particular poll. So that's a fraction of the 'others' total then.

[ObserverIE]

I literally LOLed at that ad today. Talk of desperation...  although at least we can clearly see the 'Labour' logo this time.

You mean Labour? Lorraine "Unelectable" Higgins is fond of that one too, and has adopted a new tactic of changing her "diamond" signs from red to a purplish colour, to judge by what I saw in Maynooth this evening. When even colours are toxic, things are getting bad.

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?[/quote]

I was thinking of FF and SF both being ahead of FG.

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I don't know, that's the second rogue poll in the same direction in a couple of months. I think it's belatedly dawning on FG that the electorate don't actually like them very much, and that it's not just their doormat party who are going to get a beating.

Part of that is the standard FG personality type and its impact on the ordinary voter, part of it is the degree of obvious spin put on anything which means that people believe nothing they're told, part of it is the feeling that we've swapped one bunch of slightly corrupt gobsh:tes for a more snobbish bunch of slightly corrupt gobsh:tes (I'm being polite here).

They're on a downward trajectory and it wouldn't altogether surprise me if FF outpolled them on FPVs in the local elections, if not on seat totals.

[ObserverIE]

And BTW:

I literally LOLed at that ad today. Talk of desperation...  although at least we can clearly see the 'Labour' logo this time.

The young gentleman expressing his confidence in Emer's youth guarantee just happens to be the chairman of Labour Youth. There are some things even actors won't do.

[Oakvale]

Is everyone else filling in their ballots in reverse order today? That seems to be the only way I can come up with a first preference.

[ObserverIE]

Is everyone else filling in their ballots in reverse order today? That seems to be the only way I can come up with a first preference.

For reverse preference allocation to work, you'd want to be sure that you'd counted the number of candidates correctly.

Local elections: Went through the entire list to put this work of art in last place. (Note: I performed exactly the same procedure in 1999, 2004 and 2009 - without success so far - but I'm somewhat more hopeful this time).

By-election: Voted for all the non-FF/FG/Lab candidates. Briefly thought about giving preference number 7 to FF in order to deliver a kick up the arse to the government but couldn't do it when the FF candidate was Son of Mammy.

Euro election: Left both Higginses and the hectoring a**hole from Direct Democracy Ireland unticked.

[Oakvale]

It's being widely reported that Gilmore will be resigning shortly.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

It's being widely reported that Gilmore will be resigning shortly.

He's gone.

Didn't expect that. Joanie to succeed, I suppose?