Category: Ireland economy

Sinn Fein calls for Border Poll in American Newspapers

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/sinn-fein-irish-unity-irish-america

Meant to write on this topic a few weeks ago when the Sunday Times Poll came out. Anyway Sinn fein has decided to call for a Border poll by placing advertisements in American newspapers such as the New york times and the Washington post amongst others. In all fairness this is hardly new for Sinn fein but is party policy anyway. There is no new idea’s on h0w we are going to get that far as well as needing to be in government in the  “South” as well. Some all Ireland policies would help here such as universal health care they presently have in the North, education, trade, housing and so on.

The “stage” is not exactly right at the moment but needs a little change in the “South” to win . What changes are needed are healthcare for number 1 , taxes need reform too as those who can afford to pay aren’t paying at the moment, justice for all and not just the Rich, better education and social programs. A anti corruption drive is required as well. If it comes to a border poll it would be advisable to bring your cheque book as well. It might come in handy.

Overcoming the establishment in the “South” is the major blockage to a United Ireland, they are interested in little more than their own (secret) bank accounts, obedient to Mi5, scandal racked and corrupt. They form the biggest obstacle to a United Ireland bigger than London who they secretly obey, to beat them will take all you got and more beside but you would have won which is a sweet prize in itself.

Corona virus and St Patrick’s day.

RTE

Well well here something that hasn’t gone away over the last year . In fact its gotten worse over the Christmas break with over a hundred people dying from Co-vid 19 been reported today.

To be honest one or at least i am sick of all the lockdowns, the shops closing and the other business that have been affected. Shouldn’t one lockdown have done the trick if properly implemented ?  We are on the third lockdown now and in saying that the letup for Christmas was a mistake , all the movement of people into Ireland brought the disease with them especially those from England/UK. There was no check for the disease incoming passengers and the 14 day isolation was voluntary only. Now people will have to have taken a test for the virus within the seventy two hours before arrival and people will have to stump up for 14 day isolation in approved facility at their own expense. Government was making out they were doing alot but weren’t doing the basics at keeping the Co-vid 19 out of Ireland.

Also the vaccine isn’t being rolled or mass inoculation of people  is too slow they had all of january to inoculate the over 80’s but are only beginning to do it now in February. The roll out of the vaccine is too slow and will make the Co-vid 19 situation drag out.

As for St Patrick’s day it looks to be cancelled for two years in a row, another festival bites the dust. Will Easter be clear ? or cancelled again ? One will have to wait and see – won’t we ?

RTE News ad “The Truth matters”

https://www.veoh.com/watch/v91424346SYQyjtp://

Talking about TV stations has got me going on this particular annoying ad by RTE news “The Truth matters”. Its annoying that this station is know for its censorship, one sided debates and sheer ignorance. Had a run in with them myself the now famous Colm and Jim Jim on radio 2 or 2Fm as they call. They went all quiet when asked to back up what they had put out and refused to sue when called “Liars” and “Two legged Rats” so I got no justice from them. Back to the “Truth Matters”, RTE wouldn’t know the truth if it bite them on the arse. Enough said

 

 

 

 

Holiday Woes.

That’s a screenshot from the BBC website ( Cristina Criddle https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54816579)which says that Santa’s grottos will be missed this year due to the Corona virus. This virus is certainly putting a damper on things in a major way. First it was St Patrick’s day , followed by Easter cancellations and then May day and so on, It is a tough year for those working in travel and tourism and the pub trade has taken a “hit” as well.This year will be remembered for the Corona virus and not much else .

Planned restrictions  are possibly Christmas parties, pub crawls and New Years eve celebrations. Will pubs be allowed to Re-open one wonders ? It is unlikely that the virus is cleared out before Christmas . Will people be allowed to fly home for Christmas ? Measures like pre flight testing  will have to be done or testing at the Airports will have to be brought in. Otherwise you are just reintroducing the virus again, Christmas looks like its going to be different this year

Another Lockdown ! Co-Vid 19 situation.

By https://www.nursetogether.com/ – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89016611

Its Just been announced that the 26 counties is to go in Lockdown for at least six weeks starting Wednesday night. This is in response to the increase in cases of Co-Vid 19 throughout the country. This is basically the run up to Christmas and shopkeepers will be angry as it is their busiest time.

I noticed last week  that the cinema’s/pubs are shut again with a quick perusal of the internet. That was  level 3 restrictions i suppose. It looks like being a “Blue Christmas” or sad Christmas with alot of activities being banned – Christmas parties, dinners and pub crawls being stopped to avoid people getting infected. One wonders what the situation will be for people returning home for Christmas ? Possibly bring the Co-Vid 19 virus with them ? They will have to be testing at the airports or before arrival in Ireland . The government might put a stop to people coming back – its possible

Will six weeks clear the virus ? More likely the spring alot depends on the flu season.  Read somewhere that the amount of flu cases has declined from 2019 will all the restrictions on movement, face masks etc..

One thing for sure the economy is really taking a hit.

Halloween is already a casualty like “off”  with Minster Harris saying that there will be  “no trick or treating” this year. The situation here is largely a failure of Government/s to coordinate their antivirus measures with each other leaving  every country open to re-infection as soon as the lockdown ceases. Some co-ordination between countries is required .

 

Nama’s Northern loan Book -Scandal.

Well well, the establishment have made a mess out  of Nama, two men have been charged in the North with fraud in respect to the sale of Nama’s Northern loan book. It was sold for less than one third of its book value of sterling $4.5 billion. Basically sold for a song to a American company Cerebus who obviously got a bargain. Wouldn’t you make a “killing” here if you had the credit rating. Mick Wallace then TD now MEP raised the matter in 2015 in the Dail that one politician got over £7 million lodged in a Isle of Man bank account obvious kick-back  or “Success fee” as the politicians call them.

You have the Vista  of state  assets being sold for way less than their worth and then the “state” paying three times the price when it comes to the National Broadband Plan- € 3 billion when Eir (formerly Eircom ) said they would do it for  €1 billion, big difference what ?

The Broadband plan and that National children’s hospital are obvious examples of waste and government corruption. What country can be run this way, One that ends up being bankrupt ! One that needs the Troika (The EU, the ECB and the IMF)  to bail it out and put the citizenry even deeper in debt.

 

TD Mick Wallace ‘told he would be “sorted” for raising issues on sale of NAMA Northern loan book’ – Dáil hears

Sinn féin & the Good Friday Agreement.

Irish News

http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/07/20/news/sinn-fe-in-mp-defends-saying-people-were-sold-a-pup-with-good-friday-agreement-2010012/?fbclid=IwAR1e_NZLxRdBccgkxFaS__4vYYe28Dp-3wvvPANNnoUs3yZPxws3CNfKepI

Here is a remark made by one Francie Molloy Sinn féin MP for “Mid Ulster” on the Good Friday Agreement. Mr Molloy now says that Sinn féin  got nothing in the agreement with both governments prevaricating about a Border poll. One wonders what took him this long to get this revelation about the GFA, a rather one sided agreement which shored up the Orange state. In fact “nationalists” seemed to have given up on a United Ireland in return for power sharing with loyalist politicians. Despite this power sharing has been on and off during the last twenty years .

I have heard the Good Friday Agreement described as a “False Peace” a agreement made by bribing one side to accept unacceptable conditions lies and half truths. In this agreement the principle of “Consent” is established in that the majority of Northern Ireland have to consent to a United Ireland  for it to happen. Who consented to “Northern Ireland” in the first place ? Answer Nobody, it was conceived against the wishes of the majority of Irish people who were never allowed a vote on it.

My opinion is that the clock should be  rewound and that Irish people are allowed to vote if they want a border or not in a Fair and free referendum. Thus the principle of “Consent” is established for all to see. The Good Friday Agreement made a United Ireland almost impossible to achieve and gave the “South” all the legitimacy of a reservation or more accurately one of those black homelands in apartheid South Africa.

Bertie Ahern and Gerry Adams are happy to be the big knobs in the free state but the time is coming when the boat will be rocked and both Mr Ahern and Mr Adams and others will be overboard.

Last Days of Summer.

July has passed and officially the summer of 2020 is over, though August a month of Autumn is more or less regarded as a summer month. Well where did the summer of 2020 go ? We got a nice May and a not bad April but after the first week of June the summer seemed absent and we got a lot of rain. Not ideal as the co-vid restrictions will make a lot of people have to holiday at home and having good weather would be rather nice . No such luck though and the rain continues . Interesting i have heard that the hotels despite missing many tourists are still charging over €300/night and some self catering charging €120-€150 a night pretty steep what ? No bargains there ! We have alot to learn about affordability and value for money, definitely. May be next year will be better, don’t we say that all the time ?

Election 2020 -No Change

This is a delayed comment on the election which was held on 8th February. The outcome was good for Sinn Fein but they  didn’t run enough candidates to gain a outright victory.

What has happened is that the establishment parties have merged, blocking Sinn Fein from forming a Government. This was bound to happen when both Fianna fail and Fine gael lost support. There was little between the establishment parties for a long time as both are a collection of gangsters i.e alot of taxpayers money ends up in a politician’s bank account ( a secret one at that).

A Sinn fein government wouldn’t be that much different from the establishment, maybe some people are naive to think that, but they would be some movement on the North at least.

Varadkar and Martin have stymied that with their coalition of the “unwanted”. People are bound to pay more taxes, get less services and have living standards squeezed. While all the time the rich pay less and take out more. You could talk about  government inefficiency/waste/ blatant corruption  till the cows come home but nothing will change in the immediate future. Irish politics is a puppet show at best.

Life under Lockdown.

 

www.who.int

Well we are at lockdown for the  last 6 weeks and it hasn’t been much fun. Nearly everywhere is shut and there is restrictions on how far you can travel, can’t go to Ballybunion on a sunny weekend and so on. Television is the usual crap when was it any good anyway. They could put on a few films won’t cost that much but not RTE apparently.

The Government has extended the lockdown/restrictions until May 18th and a gradual easing from then on. Schools are to remain shut till September, gyms, swimming pools remain closed until July i think. Builders can go back to work, so too can gardeners, garden centers and other people who work outdoors but have to keep the “social distancing” up or take other precautions.

Business’s have piled the pressure on the Government to reopen many Business and ease the restrictions. The economy has taken a major hit with the lockdown and the Government has a quiet a bill for paying for laid off employees and furlough workers. I think that most “shops” could reopen and take precautions like the supermarkets are doing, Perspex screens, staff to wear masks, hand washing and so on. Bars / nightclubs / cinemas could check the temperature of patrons before admission and so on. It is a bit over the top to keep them closed . I think now is a go0d time to get any DIY done. .

Medical bills are enormous too with privates hospitals being commandeered for the duration of the crisis. There is the possibility of reinfection during the summer or reemergence of the Corona virus in the autumn, they will have to assess the risks. Not all countries are doing lockdowns and may act as reservoirs of the disease. A effective vaccine is really the only solution. Talk is of a vaccine in late September/ October at the earliest more likely next year.

A word must be said to people who lost someone/ had their time cut short or who got sick, they have my sympathy for what it is worth.

https://www.who.int/