Here come the good times - for those in power

[Macy]

Yeah but not from out of Dublin.
Yes you can - I was looking at Dublin - Longford prices earlier! Actually, just checked it again for the whole way to Sligo and I'm getting €10 fare on several trains.

Edit - just tried the same day on Dublin - Cork and getting a €10 adult fare, and most of them are €20 tops. I'm sure the cheap tickets on Fridays and Sundays are the first to go though (same as Airline or any other similar travel ticket sales)

[dahamsta]

Not sure I know what you mean here?

Responding to mypost's comments stu, not yours.

TBH I can't really comment on Irish Rail, I don't use it and probably won't. I simply obeject to privatisation on naturally monopolistic services in general. These services should be run by the state in any sensible society, at a loss if necessary. It's a necessary evil; more so now that peak oil is here (or around the corner if you're a skeptic). We need to get more people travelling together.

[bennocelt]

Yes you can - I was looking at Dublin - Longford prices earlier! Actually, just checked it again for the whole way to Sligo and I'm getting €10 fare on several trains.

Edit - just tried the same day on Dublin - Cork and getting a €10 adult fare, and most of them are €20 tops. I'm sure the cheap tickets on Fridays and Sundays are the first to go though (same as Airline or any other similar travel ticket sales)

Ok, maybe the weekend its different?

[Macy]

Ok, maybe the weekend its different?
I'm not sure what you mean - It was a Saturday I was looking at, didn't check during the week. I would say the peak hours go first, weekend or during the working week.

[Dodge]

Sister in law travels by train to Cork practically every weekend. She books well in advance and reckons she hasn’t spent more than €40 return (and often a fair bit less). Gets into Dublin about 8.30am so perhaps she’s taking a very off peak train

[dahamsta]

Last time I was I (unexpectedly) had to take the train I nearly died when I saw the ticket prices from the machines. Logged onto one of the terminals and bought my tickets on the web for a fraction of the price.

[Fr Damo]

I caught the tail end of Prime Time last night who had Colm McCarthy, Billy Kelliher and Noonan on. They had commentry from some geezer from Brussels. The foreign guy gave an honest assesment of how Ireland is being perceived internationally these last two weeks in plain simple language. I think it actually helped that although is English was perfect he used words of one syllable!

Anyway, Ireland is simply going to have to default on some of the debt as the citizens alone cannot bear the losses. It's inevitable.
Help will be required from the EU and that Irelands EU colleagues would assist as the consequances of not helping us out would be worse for the Euro.
10 years of bleeding was how he put it.
As to the reasons we are in the mess, it was peddled out that the cabinate was let down by the Neary with duff information, by the central bank and of course by the boards of the banks. Daniel from Brussels basically implied that because Northern Rock, Bear Sterns and Lehemans had gone whallop, to imply we didn't see things as bad as it turned out was a cop out.

[Macy]

IAs to the reasons we are in the mess, it was peddled out that the cabinate was let down by the Neary with duff information, by the central bank and of course by the boards of the banks.
McCarthy is hardly politically independent, and I think it showed in his initial comments especially.

[Fr Damo]

That was my initial thouht too. Plus the hand on the chin and lack of personality made me think of Biffo!

[OneRedArmy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/09/why_ireland_cant_afford_to_pun.html

Good balanced article from probably the best business journalist over the last 2 years IMO. Rock and a hard place.

[Macy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/09/why_ireland_cant_afford_to_pun.html

Good balanced article from probably the best business journalist over the last 2 years IMO. Rock and a hard place.
Interesting article, although I would've thought it was only Anglo bondholders that would be taking some hit (not total default), rather than the total banking bondholders? To me, the NAMA section again highlights why we should've nationalised the systemically important banks before getting into taking assets off the books.

Last nights Prime Time shows that we should take anything Lenihan says with a pinch of salt - I'd be very surprised if the Markets don't take a similar view of whatever the Government produce on "final" Anglo recapitalisation.

[dahamsta]

Comical that Lenihan and that total douche Sutherland would think that calling the bondholders what they are would affect their holdings. These people are binary beings, they see dollar signs or they don't, period. That's why we are where we are.

[OneRedArmy]

Comical that Lenihan and that total douche Sutherland would think that calling the bondholders what they are would affect their holdings. These people are binary beings, they see dollat signs or they don't, period. That's why we are where we are.By "these people", you mean arch capitalists and laissez faire "the market is always right types" across the globe?

I'd agree with that, if thats what you mean.

But in that case you'd logically question our decision to join the EU and more generally to reduce trade barriers and tarriffs in the post-Dev era and generally set ourselves up as one of the most open economy's in the world.

My point is that we can't like the good bits of capitalism and then dislike the bad bits.

[dahamsta]

Yes, that's what I meant. Sutherland and his ilk have zero understanding of people and society, and that remains an element of capitalism, no matter how distasteful it is to them. And yes, you can like the good bits and dislike the bads bits. I love making money, but I also love redistributing it, when I can.

Are you seriously suggesting that we have to choose between capitalism or socialism, that there's no middle ground? Because there isn't anything but the middle ground in Ireland. It's not a middle ground I like, but it's better than alternatives we've seen in the past, in locations I can't mention for fear of invoking a certain law.

[OneRedArmy]

Yes, that's what I meant. Sutherland and his ilk have zero understanding of people and society, and that remains an element of capitalism, no matter how distasteful it is to them. And yes, you can like the good bits and dislike the bads bits. I love making money, but I also love redistributing it, when I can.

Are you seriously suggesting that we have to choose between capitalism or socialism, that there's no middle ground? Because there isn't anything but the middle ground in Ireland. It's not a middle ground I like, but it's better than alternatives we've seen in the past, in locations I can't mention for fear of invoking a certain law.No, not at all.

Capitalism, as it is currently constituted, is IMO, broken, and badly broken at that (in the same way that communism was proven by practice to be broken).

I find it hard to look beyond the Scandinavian countries as the best possible economic model that is in place at the minute, but there seems to be a fairly high and growing level of dissatisfaction there with the high tax-high service approach, and the high suicide levels, whilst not drawing a conclusion, can't be ignored.

There's a desperate need, again IMO, for some genuine global financial and economic leadership that is in the common-good and in particular a curb on pure vulture type-speculation. This needs to be balanced against the need to foster entrepreneurialism.

On a purely Irish level, I genuinely thought the Your Country Your Call thing was one of the few good things to come out in the last few years as we have become a hugely negative people.

For similar reasons I actually applaud the guy who drove the lorry into Leinster House, as at least he got up off his arse and did something.

[dahamsta]

Scandanavia is just another example of the cyclical nature of humanity when you get right down to it*. We can't settle. We lean to the left, get restless, move to the middle, then wander back over to the right again. If there's was some light at the end of the tunnel then I could live with it, but it's like a bloody perpetual motion machine, there doesn't seem to be any end to it.

The Your Country Your Call concept was excellent in theory. It was perfectly Oirish in practice. Jobs for the boys, as ever.


* AFAIN the suicide rate has as much to do with it's geographic position than anything else. The nasty and generally unjustified growth in immigrant hatred is far more worrying.