Tánaiste claims people only going across the border to buy cheap booze

by Brassed Off Thu Apr 23, 2009 14:54

I agree with the above.
All of our politicians seem to be brought up in the civil or public service mish-mash.
None of them have any proper experience in the private sector let alone run their own business.
When the government was trying to pay senior civil servants higher renumeration or compensation or what ever they call it now, they expounded on how ministers should be paid in comparison to similar positions in the private sector.
Now, in the private sector, if you apply to be the chief financial officer of a very large company, for example CRH, you would be expected to every qualification under the sun and have been in a similar position in a smaller company for years.
Hmmmm. Hang-on, Brian Lenihan is the chief financial officer of Ireland. But he is a barrister! Why are none of our politicians qualified for their jobs? What on earth were we thinking?

by Fred Johnston Tue Apr 14, 2009 15:59

Yes, Mary Coughlan is inordinately out of her depth, unprimed, uninformed, better suited to a parent-teacher committee, I'd imagine, but it is the nature of Irish politics to haul that sort of person on board. Her remarks about going North only for booze really are too silly for comment. The only qualifications Fianna Fáil ever ask for is a candidate's ability to win or hold a seat; intellectual or other experience are not required. Thus the politics of parish and rural hamlet can be preserved, tribal as it is and narrow. It's not politics in any European sense of the word, more like a group of Tidy Towns committee meetings.

by Vomit Smirnoff - Vodkar society of ireland Sun Apr 12, 2009 23:42

Run every one of those T.Ds ,the whole shaggen lot, up to the North Of Ireland ,we dont want them here any longer .

Replace the 166 with intelligent educated people who would get this country out of despair within 3 years , and keep us out of trouble .

by Arm-a-Gedden Sun Apr 12, 2009 23:15

Appearently the €800million in vat revenues lost to cross border shopping is as a result of the legions of Irish people searching out bargain booze in the north of Ireland.

As Tánaiste it is very obvious that she and indeed the F/Fail/Green government have not got a clue what is going on, they simply dont care about Joe and Mary citizen,this is the normal rhetoric,spin,lies tell anything except the truth,hedge around the facts make it look like the people that she represents are a crowd of drunks,this is disgusting,and disgraceful behaviour from a so called Government Minister who is the second in charge of the country.

She is not doing her job or neither are the rest of them,they are so long in power they think they own the country and its citizens and they are being allowed to get away with it,the Finance Minister added a half % to the VAT rate, the dogs in the street were telling him this was a huge mistake,he wasent listening, then he did realise they were right, admitted he made a mistake, but done absouletly nothing to correct it on that point alone, points to incompetence.

Meanwhile shoppers are still heading North to buy their essentials and rightly so they are being Patriotic to themselves, the same way the Government Ministers are being Patriotic to themselves by the misuse of taxpayers money.A General Election is urgently required to get this crowd out, and untill this happens, the people will remain with no confidence,only insecurity and fear will be the order of the day.

This rotten system needs to be completly overhauled, as it has proven itself to be Dysfunctional and does not serve the wishes of the people as laid down by Buneracht na hEireann.

When the Turkey was nominated to represent Ireland in the Eurovision I knew we were finished.