Comments on: Drag-queen bingo proves Ireland has hit jackpot

By: Drinkin’ Guinness in the 416 | Iceland’s economy is struggling, too

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:16:31 +0000

[...] also has a post which mentions drag-queen bingo in the George, Dublin’s flagship gay pub, which is an oddly dated kickoff to that article, [...]

By: MK

MK — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:18:09 +0000

Hi again David,

I semi agree with eugene. Its not a case of whether we should have a city like a Dublin or not, as it has been proven over the years that cities and concentration of resources/people/etc does have advantages, and of course disadvantages.

Governments need to mitigate against the forces that naturally occur in this ‘all roads lead to Rome’ effect to maximise efficiency, productivity, attractiveness, etc. There are no perfect cities, nor counrty idylls, but there are cities that perform better than others and are clearly better to live in. Dublin has more than its fair share of problems, and its true that Ireland is particularly concentated, although not overwhelming so eg: people do not commute en masse in high speed trains from Cork, not quite yet! Geographically distance ultimately decides the ‘catchment’ area of a city and its ‘eco-system’. Ireland has stretched that quite far, as have other cities around the globe, such as London, Rome, Paris, New Delhi, Tokyo, new York, etc.

But Ireland has an opportunity to create an opposite pole to counterbalance Dublin, as Rotterdam does to Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich do to each other, Milan to Rome, etc. Ireland is smaller, but the question is do we build on say Galway/Limerick/Cork, or treat the island as a whole and instead develop Belfast as the melbourne-equivalent to the sydney-Dublin.

Its our government which ultimately decides (whether by choice, policy success or failure) how things actually turn out.

There are many people that are living in London for example that dont necessarily like it. Sometimes, economics is living is a necessy evil.

By: Garry

Garry — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:36:07 +0000

Rob, a stereotye for you …………….
the Labour Party in Ireland represents the ‘defined benefit’ workforce in Ireland… They are based in Liberty hall, share space with the unions, the vast majority of whose members are drawn from semi state and public sector workers. Labours membership is drawn from the same pool, they are indeed “not exactly joxers from the docks”, their constituency are those people typically over fifty who have done very well as a byproduct of the boom (houses paid off, maybe even a holiday apt, defined benefit pensions, big pay increases from benchmarking). They are already solidly at the upper end of middle class in Ireland, with the recession their position will be even better again without contribution or effort on their part.

There is no absolutely understanding within the Labor party and its officials as to what is going on in ‘defined contribution’ Ireland. They cant afford to, they would lose the support of their core membership…. To be fair to them they do still have traces of a social consience but its reserved for unthreatening causes here and abroad…. just like a green voter who drives a > 1L car.

By: Langerman

Langerman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:23:31 +0000

I have but one line for you:
“Cork: the fillet of Munster”

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:11:25 +0000

David, the problem with the Labour Party in Ireland is that it doesn’t actually resonate with the poorer/working class voter. Is it any wonder when one of the recent leaders is a decent, but B/rock College educated architect, not exactly Joxer from the docks. FF mops up this vote and will do so until these voters realise that FF is not the republican party but the ‘publican and builder’ party.

By: Dan Hayes

Dan Hayes — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:09:47 +0000

David,

I was very surprised by your statement “Only in Ireland” about how the rich support the Green Party and Labor.

In America (especially NYC) we have anointed these people with the appelation “limousine liberals.” I suspect that it may be a world-wide phenomenon.

Hypocrisy Reigns!

Dan

P.S. I agree with your judgement that the comments are “invaluable.”

By: David Mc Williams

David Mc Williams — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:21:52 +0000

Evening all. Good debate. The big question, scanning the global financial markets tonight, is where is this whole thing (US and Irish economy/finance/banking) is going to end? God only knows.

RB,

Just one point on the Greens; following the 2002 election, the politics department in TCD did a study on who votes for whom and indeed they did find that the Greens were the richest voters in the land and guess who was supported by the second richest? The socialist Labour Party! While FF the party of the developers and tax cuts gets the lions share of the poorest voters! (P29 of the Pope’s Children taken from Society and Political Culture J Coakley and M Gallagher eds in “Politics in the Republic of Ireland” 3rd edition Routledge London). Strange but true. Only in Ireland. Thanks for all the comments they are invaluable. Oiche mhaith, David

By: RB

RB — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:04:45 +0000

Yeah, I take your point..
The reason why I didn’t vote was because none of the candidates inspired me to..
There’s no point voting if you only half believe in the party or candidate..
But yeah, you are right and I am glad the Greens got in, it will take time for them to develop their agendas and polices, i just hope that they keep their integrity..
I’m so disillusioned with Ireland at the moment, which is a shame because it could be such a great place to live if it wasn’t for all this rampant greed and materialism..
And don’t get me started on the cost of living!!!
:)

(rant over.. feel better.. ahhhh..)

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:36:22 +0000

Fair enough RB, but one thing i would take issue with is not voting. There’s no point being ‘political’ without voting. A few votes swung a good many seats. Remember Fianna Fáil actually lost 2 seats, if they had lost a 2/3 more then it could easily been game on. Flynn in Mayo got in by the skin of her teeth as did a couple of other FF/ind FF. I have no problem with the greens being in government. They have already made an impact, look at the recent mandatory guidelines for apartment size, in a way its revolutionary stuff. There’s no way a FF Min for Environment would have introduced that. I am prepared to overlook the crowd they are with in order that individual green ministers make a positive impact. Better to be inside the tent p*ssing out etc. Look at the impact Noel Browne made and Donough O’Malley made as individual ministers. I wouldn’t be all sure that the greens represent the richest people in Ireland. There are surely rich people in the green party as well less well-off but it is an ideological party and i think refreshing as it relatively new. FF represent survival and going with the flow. The screw is turning a little bit now given the downturn, look at the Minister’s reception at the teacher’s conference. The daftest thing I ever heard is not to invest in education
as the Minister is now spouting. This shows a party lacking a strategic vision and is completely devoid of plan now that the funds are drying up. The failure to use the funds that were available in the last ten years will have repercussions.

By: RB

RB — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:26:45 +0000

And you Bryan are a good example of presumptuousness ..
As i told you before, I do not belong to any class.. And if i do it is certainly not a “ruling class”..
The green party does not represent the richest people in Ireland , what are you talking about? ..There is a liberal element to it of course, and i’m sure that does attract some from the middle to upper classes, but i can assure you the people I now personally who voted for the greens are far from rich , as a matter of fact two of them are in receipt of soclai welfare, one a mature student and another a single mother .. So i think you are way off the mark…