General election 2020 (4 Viewers)

I would argue that the environment is the most pressing issue no matter what country you live in at this point in time. To suggest otherwise would be to underestimate the enormity of imminent climate catastrophe unless we get our act together as a species in the next decade or so. Sorry @_Katie_ probably doing nothing for your rage here!
 
I would argue that the environment is the most pressing issue no matter what country you live in at this point in time. To suggest otherwise would be to underestimate the enormity of imminent climate catastrophe unless we get our act together as a species in the next decade or so. Sorry @_Katie_ probably doing nothing for your rage here!
That doesn't negate the fact that there are other major life or death issues, such as a housing crisis, homelessness crisis and the country being a tax haven for Silicon Valley which is causing massive rents and big social tension. People can't recycle or focus on the climate if they have no basic human rights.
 
That doesn't negate the fact that there are other major life or death issues, such as a housing crisis, homelessness crisis and the country being a tax haven for Silicon Valley which is causing massive rents and big social tension. People can't recycle or focus on the climate if they have no basic human rights.
I'm not dismissing that for a second but neither can you diminish people's genuine fears about what kind of world we are leaving for our children. Do you think green issues are getting more press than the housing crisis in the run up to this election? I would say the inverse is true, maybe I'm wrong. This government has shamefully left so many of it's citizens behind by allowing homelessness to escalate and rents to skyrocket but also they've been totally blase about meeting their climate targets and have one of the worst records of any EU state. For a wealthy country that likes to project a green image of itself abroad, it is equally shameful that they've participated in escalating this other crisis while Australia is aflame and climate refugees are already mounting day by day - in a situation that is getting exponentially worse year on year.

My social media is awash with in-fighting among the left and attacks on various parties for purportedly not caring enough about X or Y issue. It's as predictable as it is disheartening.
 
Listening to farmers on the irish times politics podcast explaining how they're all failing financially under Fine Gael and will all continue to vote Fine Gael because no one else wouldbe any different except the Greens, who would be worse.
 
I'm not dismissing that for a second but neither can you diminish people's genuine fears about what kind of world we are leaving for our children. Do you think green issues are getting more press than the housing crisis in the run up to this election? I would say the inverse is true, maybe I'm wrong. This government has shamefully left so many of it's citizens behind by allowing homelessness to escalate and rents to skyrocket but also they've been totally blase about meeting their climate targets and have one of the worst records of any EU state. For a wealthy country that likes to project a green image of itself abroad, it is equally shameful that they've participated in escalating this other crisis while Australia is aflame and climate refugees are already mounting day by day - in a situation that is getting exponentially worse year on year.

My social media is awash with in-fighting among the left and attacks on various parties for purportedly not caring enough about X or Y issue. It's as predictable as it is disheartening.
I agree with your above post completely. My original point was that is ridiculous to dismiss certain working class concerns by saying the environment must come first.

I want a party who will make real strides to fight climate change and also provide decent housing and abolish waiting lists.
 
Questions I don't know the answer to

Is there any chance that we'll get this $19 billion from Apple?Do FF have the same position as FG in fighting the EU on giving us the money?

What happened to all the ghost estates anyway? Are they all filled now or just built in the wrong places?

Is the real likely situation here with the fragmented support along the political spectrum, that we become more like Italy - with less stable governments and more frequent elections?
 
Questions I don't know the answer to

Is there any chance that we'll get this $19 billion from Apple?Do FF have the same position as FG in fighting the EU on giving us the money?

What happened to all the ghost estates anyway? Are they all filled now or just built in the wrong places?

Is the real likely situation here with the fragmented support along the political spectrum, that we become more like Italy - with less stable governments and more frequent elections?
One of the main guys from Apple was giving a talk in Dublin a couple of days ago and when questioned on there money they owe Ireland he said he doesn’t believe in past debt and Apple isn’t in any debt to Ireland.

As far as I know ghost estate remain empty and wasteful.
 
Me being angry is my own private business and not disrespectful to anyone. I never said I expressed the anger.
Heh, ok

FWIW I think fixing housing in Dublin is going to be extraordinarily difficult. The root of the problem is demand, as far as I can see. All the parties talk about building more social housing, but how are govts going to make it happen when they couldn't in the past?
 
Is there any chance that we'll get this $19 billion from Apple?Do FF have the same position as FG in fighting the EU on giving us the money?
um, that we become more like Italy - with less stable governments and more frequent elections?


The government dont want the money or at least that’s the optics so that Tim Cook doesn’t think of moving all their jobs here elsewhere.

Also the EU has earmarked most of that money for other countries that apple should have paid tax in.
So other EU countries will be getting the bulk of it anyway
 
What happened to all the ghost estates anyway? Are they all filled now or just built in the wrong places?

No one wants to live in Leitrim is part of the issue.

Also, and this may have changed in the 18 months since I spent a bit of time looking into but IIRC there are sizable stocks of near finished apartment blocks in places like Stillorgan that the state still owns and haven't done anything with. Presumably this is because the government thinks it would be "better" for some private developer to buy them up and maybe finish them/redevelop them at some point instead of engaging in a large scale public works operation that would result in people having places to live.

There's also the attitude that many have of "I bought my house, those fuckers are getting it for free," which I'm sure most people have heard expressed by someone WRT social housing and is the sort of prickish idea you'd find it hard to shift from people's mindsets.

The Irish are more invested than many europeans in the notion of owning their own property and to that end it probably is tricky for any political party to think they'll be elected here by doing anything that might reduce the value of the houses that voters own, especially given the "buy a starter home and then move up" model we ran head first into in the past 2 decades that would put people in negative equity and unable to move if lots of fresh housing stock came on the market quickly and values dropped. And there's already loads of people 10-15 years into their mortgages from the last boom who may not be back to their buying price yet.

Obviously we should be building more social housing, it'd give people who don't have home somewhere to live and if we stopped subsidising landlords with public money it'd probably end up putting those who are renting without assistance and who are struggling in a better position where rents don't increase at the rate they have been but such is the political maths that in order for someone to get into power on that policy they might need something in tandem re a mechanism to help property owners in negative equity who are resident in their properties move.*

Basically, I don't think it's inherently bad policy for a party to be concerned about the interests and needs of property owners who own one house, the one they live in, and it's electorally savvy. But the state we're in where we're concerned about the interests of people and businesses who own a rake of properties is fucked and in doing so we've thrown people who don't own their own gaffs under the bus.

* Obviously it isn't nice to be in a position whereby you're going "this shithole is worth less than what I paid for it" but if there was a way to still move house if you want or need to then it wouldn't be so bad day to day, the new place you move to s probably worth less than it was when you bought your current one too.
 
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Heh, ok

FWIW I think fixing housing in Dublin is going to be extraordinarily difficult. The root of the problem is demand, as far as I can see. All the parties talk about building more social housing, but how are govts going to make it happen when they couldn't in the past?


Aggressive zoning restrictions. You want to build something, it's gotta be gaffs.
 
This is something that has stumped me by the way. Dublin City Council is mostly left wing, yet hotels are being thrown up everywhere, do they not have any control over what gets built in the city?
I dunno how left wing they are in action

Like there had to be absolute outrage about a Japanese hotel going in the Magdalene Laundry before they copped on, and they gifted the Iveagh to that developer
And they're also out there building white water rafting malarkey

That council strikes me that it's run on the favour bank and patronage like every other institution - the bit I do know about it
No one's clued in to the council though - they can usually fly under public radar
 
Re building housing. This quote sums it up pretty well imo.


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