Justin Barrett

[Dodge]

Ummm, RTE said she was encouraging people to break the law. Furthermore, show me the bank branch that DIDN'T tell many of its customers to open an offshore account and I'll fall over. It doesn't make it right of course, and FF are spelling that out by moving to expel her, but all the banks officials across the board should be brought to book. I know people who ended up with bogus non resident accounts who didn't have a clue what the advantages were and simply signed where the bank told them to sign.

The old "sure everybody else is doing it" defence. Didn't work for Pats, shouldn't work for her either...

[brendy_éire]

Should be IQ test or something before people get a vote in Democracy to protect people from themselves.

Interesting point to raise. Had a few debates about this recently. Don't agree at all with a test before you're allowed to vote. It could be used to exclude groups of society. For example, the middle class are usually better educated than the working class, thus more of them would pass the test. That's not fair. I agree that something needs to be done to educate and politicise the public more. IMO, voting should be made complusory, as is the case in Belgium and Australia. That would force people to pay attention to politics. Also, I'd like to see political advertising banned. This would force people to actively get involved in finding out about policies and manifestoes, instead of just sitting back and letting the ads come to them.

[Macy]

IMO, voting should be made complusory, as is the case in Belgium and Australia. That would force people to pay attention to politics.

What's democratic about forcing people to vote? If that system did come in you'd have to have a "none of the above" option.

Also, I'd like to see political advertising banned. This would force people to actively get involved in finding out about policies and manifestoes, instead of just sitting back and letting the ads come to them.

I'd be more concerned with getting the limits on donations held or reduced, tbh, and include tickets for functions in the overall figure per year. It helps feed the perception that politicians are corrupt...

[pete]

What's democratic about forcing people to vote? If that system did come in you'd have to have a "none of the above" option.

Yeah at least now those who vote are reasonably informed.

[brendy_éire]

What's democratic about forcing people to vote? If that system did come in you'd have to have a "none of the above" option.

But we are all part of this country, therefore we all have a civil reasonability to decide how it is run. IMO, if you feel unable to vote for any candiadate in your constituency, it's your civic duty to stand for election yourself.

[patsh]

Ummm, like Cooper Flynn, of course, he was not convicted. But there are offences outside the world of fraud or theft.

What I don't like about Stagg is not that in particular. It's the fact that after we all beat oursleves up for interfering with his private life, he came out with some truly shocking comments about members of the travelling community. Yet anyone on the left wing could spend hours going on and on about FF or FG and bigotry, with the prime example being in their own number.

You espouse the views of a party which is guilty of massive corruption and innumerable criminal offences, and in you attempts to tar everyone with the same brush, you flail around and come up with Emmett Stagg.
Stagg was found in an area of Dublin where rent boys are known to frequent.
(btw, you have referred to this incident a lot, does the homosexual element bother you so much?)
He made some obnoxious comments.
To a FFer this is the same as Flynn x 2, Burke, Collins, Foley, Lawlor, Flynn again et al
Thats pathetic Conor.
Instead of trying to find the specks in others eyes, have a long hard look at Mt. Everest in your own.


(btw, do you think that after telling everybody
1. how wrong they are,
2. that they didn't have a clue,
3. that "we" know more about software than anyone else
and
4. wasting €50,000,000
5. being shown to be an incompetent and arrogant fool
that Cullen should resign?
or is that only for parties with integrity and guts?)

[Macy]

5. being shown to be an incompetent and arrogant fool
that Cullen should resign?

He should've resigned for that reason years ago....

So up to now he's come out against Government Policy once, and totally fúcked up on electronic voting machines. Resign? He still claims he's right, and the independent experts are wrong...