JP McManus (1 Viewer)

[hermie]

Thoughts on his latest stunt with the GAA? On the one hand, most billionaire tax exiles - particularly Irish ones - don't give back as much as he does to the local community so I suppose he should be lauded for that at least. On the other I don't get to decide where my tax money goes, why should he just because he's rich?

 

[ernesto]

You can’t spell JP McManus without ‘anus’ anyway

 

[rettucs]

Thoughts on his latest stunt with the GAA? On the one hand, most billionaire tax exiles - particularly Irish ones - don't give back as much as he does to the local community so I suppose he should be lauded for that at least. On the other I don't get to decide where my tax money goes, why should he just because he's rich?

sounds like the tax system is what you have the bigger gripe with. Rich folk have been abusing that forever.

I have mixed feelings about him. I'm not sure what he's at with this latest stunt. He's obviously still a bit high after Limerick winning the hurling. That's understandable, them not having won in so long and they (Limerick folk), and he, being so passionate about the sport. I wonder would he have been so 'generous' had Limerick not won.

Some things I do know about him.

Limerick GAA were in trouble financially after refurbishing their stadium several years back. An anonymous benefactor paid off the debt. Of course everyone knew it was McManus, but his name being revealed wasn't to do with him. I think it speaks a lot for him that he didn't want any personal credit for the gesture.

The sponsors of Limerick GAA, 'Sporting Limerick', is also McManus. He sponsors the team but, again, doesn't want his name emblazoned on the shirts (unlike other sponsors). Over the years he's had a couple of different slogans on their shirts. One that springs to mind is 'Drug Free', which, again, is a nice gesture. He donates a lot to various charitable causes in the Limerick area.

All the jockeys of his horses (and I should let it be known that I abhor horse racing - fucking horrible, horrible thing), wear the colours of his GAA club, South Liberties. That would suggest to me that he's very much aware of where he came from and, despite his tax exile, never really moved from Limerick.

On the other hand, he buys his friends. This 'friends with the rich and famous' thing is a load of my hole. If you have to pay people massive sums of money to come and play golf with you, they can fuck off.

I'd say it's a lonely place being that rich, and overall I think he seems like a decent skin.

I'll declare my GAA background here, so maybe I'm a bit biased. I'd rather he gave the money to clubs in less privileged areas. Doling it out equally makes no sense. 10 grand would mean a lot more if given to Liffey Gaels in Ballyfermot, than 5 grand to them and 5 to Sylvesters in Malahide.

 

[ann post]

Considering he's a shareholder in Ladbrokes its not entirely impossible he wont see most of that money back via the medium gaa.

 

[hermie]

sounds like the tax system is what you have the bigger gripe with. Rich folk have been abusing that forever.

I have mixed feelings about him. I'm not sure what he's at with this latest stunt. He's obviously still a bit high after Limerick winning the hurling. That's understandable, them not having won in so long and they (Limerick folk), and he, being so passionate about the sport. I wonder would he have been so 'generous' had Limerick not won.

Some things I do know about him.

Limerick GAA were in trouble financially after refurbishing their stadium several years back. An anonymous benefactor paid off the debt. Of course everyone knew it was McManus, but his name being revealed wasn't to do with him. I think it speaks a lot for him that he didn't want any personal credit for the gesture.

The sponsors of Limerick GAA, 'Sporting Limerick', is also McManus. He sponsors the team but, again, doesn't want his name emblazoned on the shirts (unlike other sponsors). Over the years he's had a couple of different slogans on their shirts. One that springs to mind is 'Drug Free', which, again, is a nice gesture. He donates a lot to various charitable causes in the Limerick area.

All the jockeys of his horses (and I should let it be known that I abhor horse racing - fucking horrible, horrible thing), wear the colours of his GAA club, South Liberties. That would suggest to me that he's very much aware of where he came from and, despite his tax exile, never really moved from Limerick.

On the other hand, he buys his friends. This 'friends with the rich and famous' thing is a load of my hole. If you have to pay people massive sums of money to come and play golf with you, they can fuck off.

I'd say it's a lonely place being that rich, and overall I think he seems like a decent skin.

I'll declare my GAA background here, so maybe I'm a bit biased. I'd rather he gave the money to clubs in less privileged areas. Doling it out equally makes no sense. 10 grand would mean a lot more if given to Liffey Gaels in Ballyfermot, than 5 grand to them and 5 to Sylvesters in Malahide.

Thought my opening post put me squarely on the fence, perhaps not.

I don't think it's a gripe with the tax system as such. There's always going to be a loophole to be got at somewhere in the world, in this case Switzerland, if you're rich enough to avail of it. Some people choose to pay their taxes in the country where they're from. Michael O'Leary, plum that he is, does it. Others such as Denis O'Brien (Malta) and U2 (Netherlands) don't.

I don't know too much about JP, he's a fascinating bloke and by all accounts his philanthropy goes way beyond GAA but I believe he's on record as saying that it's better that he repatriates a portion of his wealth this way rather than pay taxes in Ireland. Of course most people in this country probably agree with that - better than giving the money to them politicians up in Dublin! But I disagree. Why should the wealthy pick and choose their pet projects while the rest of stump up for the boring stuff?

 

[egg_]

Why should the wealthy pick and choose their pet projects while the rest of stump up for the boring stuff?

Indeed. AFAICS what the govt funds with tax money is as close to what The People actually want as it's possible to get. Dodging paying tax and trying to make up for it with philanthropy is saying that you know what's good for The People better than they do

 

[hermie]

Indeed. AFAICS what the govt funds with tax money is as close to what The People actually want as it's possible to get. Dodging paying tax and trying to make up for it with philanthropy is saying that you know what's good for The People better than they do

There's that but also I'd love if more of my tax money went to, say social housing and green energy rather than propping up the agricultural industry and RTE. But I can't. If he wants to pump funding into the GAA it should be over and above his civic duty, not in lieu of it.

 

[egg_]

If he wants to pump funding into the GAA it should be over and above his civic duty, not in lieu of it.

I couldn't agree more, and in fact I'm gonna parrot that line to everyone I know now

 

[rettucs]

Why should the wealthy pick and choose their pet projects while the rest of stump up for the boring stuff?

agree with this. And, like I said, I have no idea why he's doing what he's doing. Even if he wanted to help the GAA, there are better ways of doing it.

But the wealthy pick and choose because they have the lawmakers by the balls. Their wealth confers on them more rights than normal joe bloggses, unfortunately.

 

[nuke terrorist]

i find his popularity bizarre - he's given away only a tiny percentage of his huge wealth.
e.g. i know working class people who love him. they relate to him much more than they do to
immigrants, squatters, travelers, homeless etc. WTF ?
people affections seem easily bought.

one person i know well is a a regular punter on the horses and most of what i know comes from seeing him watch races and the rest from watching a few documentaries about jockeys (McCoy etc. - AP's life seemed tragic to me, felt sorry for him)
used to be just concerned about horses welfare but the whole business is sad.

the horse racing fan pointed out the jockey colours of McManus and also Michael O'Leary's colours to me. they usually have several horses each in most Irish televised horse races.
you had things like more than one horse acting as pacemakers for another horse
from their stable. most of the horses in a race could be in the colours of those two.
McManus and O'Leary are essential to horse racing in Ireland without them the business
would be on it's knees as far as i can see ?

how extreme the lifestyle of the jockeys is - they seem to be be physically and mentally extreme masochists whose only relief is winning.

a horse racing fans are a strange bunch - i feel especially sorry for people born into horse racing families.

and he and that other shithead Magnier's roll in the decline of Man Utd shoudn't ever be forgotten:
Magnier and McManus sold their MUFC shares to the Glazers giving them a controlling interest in the club. the Glazers used the club itself as collateral for the loan they took out to buy MUFC (how was this allowed ? no wonder 2008 happened) the debt repayments on these loans came to cripple the club who otherwise would had made profits in the £100's of millions annually.
sadly Fergie made the mistake of his life befriending Magnier and McManus and the above came as a result of them falling out.

and for the record I support Liverpool and i remember Hicks and Gillette.

what's the story with GAA teams and gambling ?
I have heard stories of teams betting on themselves to win local finals and lads getting addicted this way.
e.g. a friend briefly worked in a bookies. she said after a team won a final (circa 2007) they came in to collect their winnings - 14,000 Euros. she was delighted for them at time but...
later realized this was not unusual to place bets like this.

she also remembers a man coming in and putting 2,000 on a horse. they thought he must have some inside info which he denied. some of staff then put money on the horse at
another bookies, thinking there must be something in it.
the horse came last.

 

[egg_]

Gambling is such a baffling addiction. At least with drugs or booze you get off your head, but with gambling nothing actually really happens at all - you're basically addicted to an idea

 

[Lili Marlene]

Gambling is such a baffling addiction. At least with drugs or booze you get off your head, but with gambling nothing actually really happens at all - you're basically addicted to an idea

Nothing baffling about that, i'd totally become addicted if i wasn't careful enough to stay the hell away.

 

[pete]

I “won” €5 on the lotto last night. Ticket cost €6...,

 

[egg_]

Baffling for me only then I guess (shrugs)

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I heard the lotto described recently as a tax on stupidity, I thought that was good. Or it could be a tax on hopes and dreams too, I suppose

 

[Anthony]

Lottery tickets are great for putting in birthday cards. Otherwise it's €20 a card! Can you imagine someone opening a card a seeing a fiver in it? Plus it's a tiny bit exciting.
I still get embarrassed buying them though. Does that make me a snob?

 

[hermie]

i find his popularity bizarre - he's given away only a tiny percentage of his huge wealth.
e.g. i know working class people who love him. they relate to him much more than they do to
immigrants, squatters, travelers, homeless etc. WTF ?
people affections seem easily bought.

one person i know well is a a regular punter on the horses and most of what i know comes from seeing him watch races and the rest from watching a few documentaries about jockeys (McCoy etc. - AP's life seemed tragic to me, felt sorry for him)
used to be just concerned about horses welfare but the whole business is sad.

the horse racing fan pointed out the jockey colours of McManus and also Michael O'Leary's colours to me. they usually have several horses each in most Irish televised horse races.
you had things like more than one horse acting as pacemakers for another horse
from their stable. most of the horses in a race could be in the colours of those two.
McManus and O'Leary are essential to horse racing in Ireland without them the business
would be on it's knees as far as i can see ?

how extreme the lifestyle of the jockeys is - they seem to be be physically and mentally extreme masochists whose only relief is winning.

a horse racing fans are a strange bunch - i feel especially sorry for people born into horse racing families.

and he and that other shithead Magnier's roll in the decline of Man Utd shoudn't ever be forgotten:
Magnier and McManus sold their MUFC shares to the Glazers giving them a controlling interest in the club. the Glazers used the club itself as collateral for the loan they took out to buy MUFC (how was this allowed ? no wonder 2008 happened) the debt repayments on these loans came to cripple the club who otherwise would had made profits in the £100's of millions annually.
sadly Fergie made the mistake of his life befriending Magnier and McManus and the above came as a result of them falling out.

and for the record I support Liverpool and i remember Hicks and Gillette.

what's the story with GAA teams and gambling ?
I have heard stories of teams betting on themselves to win local finals and lads getting addicted this way.
e.g. a friend briefly worked in a bookies. she said after a team won a final (circa 2007) they came in to collect their winnings - 14,000 Euros. she was delighted for them at time but...
later realized this was not unusual to place bets like this.

she also remembers a man coming in and putting 2,000 on a horse. they thought he must have some inside info which he denied. some of staff then put money on the horse at
another bookies, thinking there must be something in it.
the horse came last.

Are he and O'Leary mates? They're a bit chalk and cheese aren't they. O'Leary an open book, JP a bit of an enigma. JP a man of the people O'Leary a bit of a cunt despite the fact that he chooses to pay his taxes in Ireland (he once claimed to be the single biggest individual taxpayer in the country I believe) while the other doesn't feel he has to.

 

[rettucs]

I heard the lotto described recently as a tax on stupidity, I thought that was good. Or it could be a tax on hopes and dreams too, I suppose

jesus, don't know about that. I was looking at the lottery in a shop there the other day and there's about 400 options of different shite to be wasting your money on. I reckon you'd have to be a genius to get yer head around it all.

I haven't played the lotto since 1998

 

[Unicron]

I do the euromillions when it gets to about 80mill, anything less than that "not worth it" which I know is dumb but anyway.

I used to gamble on football a little bit but I found it ruined my enjoyment of the game, wanting some team you should hate to win because you backed them spoiled things a bit. And I wasn't betting enough to make it worthwhile and offset that.

 

[pete]

I heard the lotto described recently as a tax on stupidity

I often say that. And a tax on people who don’t understand probability. But fuck it.