Thinking about it really it is only really the mainstream media and FF supporters- and who cares about them?- going on about Brian bocht. AGAIN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA. See this thread I started on Sunday on politics.ie. Yes there are a small minority of vocal good commentators in it. The article by the clinical psychologist- I can't think of her name- in The Irish Times yesterday is very good.
They have taken a stand on the profanity and the site is looked at by MANY in political circles and if Sarah Carey can convince me to feel for the Fine Gael'ers then I can convince other people. And frankly they are the best party. FF= mostly corrupt morons. LB= do not aspire to a united Ireland or haven't done so in a couple of decades and given this even if they changed their mind it would take a very long time to believe them. And a lot of their members aren't very smart to be blunt. Who cares about the rest?
Now when I hear people going OTT about Brian Lenihan having cancer as if he is the second Messiah or something I get annoyed. They don't know him. Simple as that. Or they don't know him very roundly. And, anyway, his cancer IS NOT TERMINAL for God's sake....!!!! Hello.
There are over 80 pages of chat about Brian Lenihan having cancer on politics.ie. Yes I feel for him and his family. But not more than I would feel for anyone else who has cancer. Tommy said this in his OP on the thread to which I responded.
I am only posting this here because I didn't post it on that site until page 69 and few would have read it and I want to re-register it online, if you get me....
As I said a couple of days ago I was Sean1 on politics.ie for a couple of years.While I don't think I regret saying anything I said at the time- I was where I was then- and still agree with most of it and make no apologies for it Sean1 was a character. I used that name because I wasn't confident enough to use my own name at the time and because I 1) wanted to humble a few very intelligent Anglo-Americanised people, and who didn't use their own names also, and who now as it happens have all left the site anyway and 2) of course articulate some arguments.and yes because I liked the name Seán. However the character Sean1 was a total goer. I amen't in reality. I can be thin skinned although yes I have a tough aspect and rough edge when need be sometimes. I've got soul but I'm not a soldier, more often than not.
I'm putting my soul first from now on. Some people are cut out to work in politics/be very politically active. It would actually kill me.....
Just to illustrate my point about blogs and political parties have a look at what Lucinda Creighton wrote in this blog post on her blog on her website. She is the only Fine Gael member I know of to write so humanely. That's not to say that Fine Gael members are inhumane. They are just too humble I believe to do it themselves. Such humility though is stupid I have to say, in today's world. I only ever saw Lucinda in person once about six years ago and she came across as very nihilistic to me. We all have our unpleasant sides though. Nobody is perfect. However frankly I like her now, or like her essence, after reading this. Yes I posted on her post and she got back to me, although she didn't post up what I said not that I am going to moan about it or anything. Well done Lucinda!!!! Now other Fine Gael members do you not think that your should be using the resource of the internet more to express yourselves?
"I spent last Saturday in some of the inner city flats in my constituency, dealing with queries and issues arising for the residents. I have to be honest and say that Fine Gael has not been seen to be a party that is particularly interested in or concerned by the issues of people living in deprived parts of Dublin in recent times. I really am disappointed with the way the party has become so synonymous with the wealthy middle classes, especially over the past few decades. All that is changing now, and I am pleased with the changed attitude to Fine Gael in working class areas. I think this is epitomised by the recent election of Cllr. Ray McAdam in the North Inner City Ward and Cllr. Catherine Noone in the South East Inner City ward. These are areas where Fine Gael has not been represented in over 16 years.
What is striking is the way in which the economic boom in Ireland so dramatically by-passed so many people. In one flat complex which I visited, I came across three families of seven people, living in two bedroom flats. This is just unbelievable, where people are not afforded the basic human dignity of achieving their fundamental housing needs. What is most frustrating is that while so many young people are on the housing list, so many of the Council units are empty. It is not unusual for flats to lie vacant for 12 or 18 months, with no work carried out, while families of up to three generations are forced to live like sardines. This is a matter that I have raised before with Dublin City Council and I will continue to pursue, notwithstanding the economic climate. We cannot continue to ignore the extreme social problems which emanate from areas which are utterly ignored by the rest of our society. If the Authorities want a cost-benefit analysis of helping deprived people, they only have to look at the cost of running our criminal justice system. If we have the foresight to invest in these areas, we will make unquantifiable savings in the future."
Sarah Carey wrote an article on the problem last year. I started a thread on that site, which I don't debate on anymore, criticising it and yes making one wrong comment which I apologise for. Her radio debate on, I think Pat Kenny's programme, with a woman from the gaelscoil movement though covered the question of the gaelscoileanna in working class areas, which her article didn't.. In the last couple of months though I interviewed two principals of gaelscoileanna for "Ar Muin na Muice" including the guy who is in charge of the one in Cabra- their (OK the parents committee) little protest having brought the attention on them. So I reread her article a couple of times and instead of spending ages typing up what I think I will post up what I said after doing so on that site.
"Having interviewed a couple people in the gaelscoil movement recently for "Ar Muin na Muice" on Nearfm I have re-read her article a couple of times. In hindsight I think she was right. What turned me off the article when I read it first was that 1) there was no mention of the gaelscoileanna in working class areas and 2) what was said about the movement sounding increasingly shrill. I presumed on the latter that she were projecting that protest in Cork with those misfits on the whole gaelscoil movement which of course would have been wrong. However I had forgotten- in one way surprisingly as I had been aware of it- the whole tumoideachas/early immersion thing. I forgot about it as O'Keefe, rightly, was pressing ahead. Now though he mightn't be...????? That was shrill.
AND the movement as represented by the teachers and organisations of the movement and not including the vast majority of the parents ARE sanctimonious in relation to the Irish language. Maybe if the language was in a healthy position that would be comphrensible but the language is in crisis and these people go on as if the Irish speaking world is big. It isn't. It is absolutely tiny. And even in areas where the primary infrastucture in terms of the Irish language world if you get me has been created i.e. a primary and second level gaelscoil there are hardly any groups of teachers and parents promoting the language in the areas outside of the schools.
AND you won't get virtually any local ruffians, and anymore than a handful of immigrants, in the schools. So they AREN'T good in terms of a social mix. I think that regular middle class schools are only marginally different here in terms of the former but in working class gaelscoileanna we are having educational apartheid.
A chance deserves to be given to them. They should stop being sanctimonious and ways at being more accessible should be looked at. If this was achieved I would support their growth in number. In my view they are in the last chance saloon in terms of legitimacy like the future of the Irish language generally. We'll see what happens with Plean 2029 and with the next Fine Gael/Labour Government.
....
I am concerned about the ones in working class areas. As I said the gaelscoileanna in middle class areas are only marginally different in terms of local ruffians than the regular schools. And we shouldn't fault them that no more than usually a half a dozen or so immigrants go to the schools. If I lived in Wales I probably wouldn't send my kids to a Welsh speaking school. Given that a lot of Irish people who wouldn't incidentally generally have any problems with the gaelscoileanna wouldn't send their kids there we shouldn't expect immigrants to be any different. Particularly as I said when the state of the language is in crisis thanks to the FF-led Government over the last 12 years.
.....
We had a boom. They blew it. Irish could have grown a lot more over the last decade with the money the Government had. It didn't. The mark of the Bertie Ahern era was firstly the Governments failure to plan effectively i.e. properly. This included in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Department of Education and Science in relation to the Irish language. Do you want specifics??? Funnily enough these "Irish language types" as distinct from average Gaeltacht people actually would still vote for a FF-led Government before a FG one. They shouldn't be surprised when someone like Sarah Carey, a FG councillors daughter, does a hatchet job on them and exposes their reality in terms of the language and gaelscoileanna. They have lived in (blissful perhaps?) ignorance for years. If they actually profess non-sanctimonious personalities in the media they will be liked; they don't. Sarah Carey has one. They should look to her as being a role model in terms of civic duty in terms of having interests in many topics not just one or two."
I won't name the secondary school I went to although people who know me well would know where it is. When I was there ten years ago there were 550 students. Now there are 330 or 350. And they are taking in students from two very, very disadvantaged/underclass areas now. The local second level gaelscoil didn't take in boys after Junior Cert when I was there, now they do. I suspect that this is the largest reason in the huge drop in students. So I am slightly discomforted to say the least in hindsight. I loved that school. I had my bad days there like everyone else but there was no particularly bad element there. Now I am told there is. Admittedly I have not been told anything about the gaelscoil in the area, although I hardly ever talk to anyone from the school, but I have been told by one senior teacher that the demographics of the area have changed and there aren't as many young people and one ex-teacher that a lot of parents in the area are not sending their teenagers there anymore it has got so bad and he said many of them are sending them to The Institute. So yes I would say that these would account as well for the big drop in the number of students.
I suspect though that the gaelscoil now taking in boys altogether is the biggest factor. Even if it is the second biggest and not the biggest which I doubt what has happened to the area is a case study. My school had a very good name. It still would have to a good number of people who remember hearing of it from the old days. Not anymore and the conservative, sanctimonious nature of the gaelscoil is a large reason I feel. Watch this space (although admittedly nothing radical will probably happen until we get a new Government).
On a final point I know what is like to be a strong supporter of the gaelscoil movement like a strong supporter of the Irish Language subject being required throughout secondary school. Both are cultural projects. In my case they were nationalist cultural projects. For the vast bulk of strong supporters of the gaelscoil movement the movement is a cultural project. We need more projects. I have one I am involved in with my Irish programme on the community radio station for North-East Dublin Nearfm. The only Irish language current affairs programme in the English language media. And the programme is broadcast five days a week and we are looking for another one or two presenters at the moment I believe.
As I said in my last post I think that Fine Gael are the best party in Ireland but that Fianna Fail are like a political cultural movement and that for a lot of people it is easy to buy into what they want to do in terms of the island. As an independent republican and who knows the Fianna Fail mentality well, well the old one which still pervails mostly with Brian Cowen although it took a hammering under bumbling Bertie here are my ideas on the cultural side. These will have an affect not effect apart from for a few nutters.
1) Every candidate in the next GE should have a bilingual Irish-English leaflet. Of course the option should be given to the candidates. The main leaflet outlining the party's key policies is what I am thinking about. Their Ard-Oifig should translate it and all the candidates should be told that they have the option of having the leaflet done bilingually. The party should let some reporter(s) in the media know this so the people who have declined the option will be known to be, whatever... They will learn by their mistakes if they value our native language and culture. Which I'm sure they all do.
2) The party should have a bilingual template for their website.
3) All candidates should be suggested to have a website and blog for general reasons and there should, even if only a few sentences, be some Irish on them.
4) It may already happen but the Fine Gael Ard-Oifig should give party politicians the option of having a Christmas card with an as Gaeilge greeting; the cards usually being sent to constituents every year.
I did suggest to Enda Kenny and Joe McHugh by email before that the party should have a Northern Ireland section on their website. However with the marginalistion of the national question of unification with 1) prices across the border 2) stablility of the Executive there 3) few in the South not thinking that SF and the DUP in the Executive who have the First and Deputy First Ministerial position are not nutters and therefore not wanting to hear about them and 4) the reality that SF only have four TD's in the state and will probably not get more than six or seven next time- few people in the state want to hear about unification. When the demographics in the North change a lot and we are within probably ten years of a united Ireland then there will be talk and interest but not now. However the party will have to still say to convince a good number of people that they aspire to a united Ireland. And that many nationalists on both sides of the border will have to learn to forgive the unionists for what they have done in the past and that we should try to be on consilidatory terms with them.
I am not going to post much on the state of the political parties. Here is the last thing I will say about Fine Gael for a long time. Here is an article from The Indo from last July. I don't need to say anymore. My last post revealed where I think the solution is generally; for all parties I might add.
Fine Gael strategist warns party must beware resurgent FF
By ANITA GUIDERA
Thursday July 23 2009
FINE Gael strategist Frank Flannery told the MacGill Summer School that he was in the job because he was "bad enough of a bastard and tough enough to make really unpopular decisions".
Mr Flannery landed himself in hot water with party leader Enda Kenny during the general election campaign when he suggested Fine Gael may be open to negotiating with Sinn Fein over a possible coalition.
Declining to comment on that episode yesterday, he added, "and that has its own impact from time to time which sometime will take the form of an apoplectic member of the front bench".
He told the summer school that Fine Gael has a historic opportunity to position itself as the natural party of government.
Complacency
But he warned that there was no room for complacency and if Fine Gael wasn't focused, there was a very good chance that history would repeat itself and Fianna Fail would come roaring back.
Addressing the MacGill Summer School on 'A new political landscape', he said that Irish politics may have reached an inflection point where the continued dominance of Fianna Fail could no longer be taken for granted.
Claiming that a new more radical Fine Gael was now emerging, he said that Fine Gael's ability to win significant seat bonuses in successive elections showed that it was now better than any other party at managing the electoral process and its own votes.
"They used the elections of 2004, 2007 and 2009 to bring a new generation of young politicians into the party and into elective politics," he said.
The fact that so many people had lost their seats created space for the new people to come in which was a great advantage, he said.
Many of those new members, were, he said, imbued with idealism and new ideas -- "thoroughly products of the age of ecology and technology".
Mr Flannery said that by winning the 2007 election, the one they needed to lose, Fianna Fail was left managing the effects of significant mismanagement of the economy.
- ANITA GUIDERA
Letter in The Irish Examiner yesterday:
Class conflict
NOW that the Government has shown us that the vulnerable and even the blind must pay for the destruction wrought by greedy bankers and developers, is there even a remote chance that those who used the banks as their personal collection boxes might be brought to justice – or are the public to be content with the message that we are engaged in a stealthy but developing class war?
Fred Johnston
Carn Ard
Circular Road
Galway
I fear- although it hasn't kept me awake at night yet anyway- that there will be violence in this recession. I mean political violence. Obviously with the huge drop in money services have been effected and and we can't build like we used to. Like social housing et al. And there are over 400,000 people out of work a lot of young people amongst them. As the messages of Conversations With God say the problems of our world are spiritual in essence. There will be more change for the good. I think that the title of public representatives will have to be taken off political representatives until the start representing the public in matters of well spirituality. Think about it. I mean spirit. Only the political representatives in Ireland who manifest a personality are liked. Most aren't. Most people are cynical about politics. I think that the Fine Gael “doers“ have great class from my experience as do some Labour members however they are in a minority in their parties. My advice to political representatives is to (yes it is kind of funny) start a blog and start talking from the heart; honestly. Then some people will pick up on it and start talking to you about your beliefs and values. Including of course some people in the media. If political representatives value the organisations in the community then say it. What do they value?????????? Some parties dare I say pride themselves on being honest. But are they anything more than politically honest? And if they keep on getting the same results in being marginalised from the more general public shouldn't they start to question themselves and what they are doing in simply being political representatives?
If anyone doesn't see where I am going with this ask where you think political representatives are going?
The two most wrong things that hit me are that people on €30,000 and under the public service will be getting a pay cut of 5%. Their pay should not have been touched. And people on €200,000 and over should have gotten a 20% and not 15% cut in their pay. Also of course the Taoiseach's pay should have been cut by 30% and the Ministers should have taken much bigger pay cuts. Apparently they only took a pay cut of 5% if what Fine Gael are saying is correct. Disgraceful!
Ba chóir go mbeadh an tÚdaras nua ainmnithe mar seo ceapaim. Chuir mé mo thuarim in iúl mar ríomphost do Enda Kenny, Michael Ring, Fergus O'Dowd, Dinny McGinley, Naoise Ó Muirí, Éamon Mac Niallais Ó Ghuth na Gaeltachta agus do Jerry Buttimer.
Alt ó Beo.ie an mhí seo.
"An rud is measa uilig ná go bhfuil sé ráite ann go ndéanfar Údarás na Gaeilge de Údarás na Gaeltachta agus gur mar áisíneacht náisiúnta Ghaeilge a bhéas sé ag feidhmiú, agus beidh an cúram air breathnú i ndiaidh cúrsaí Gaeilge ar fud an stáit!
Dochreidte
Is deacair é seo a chreidiúint: tá sé ar intinn an Rialtais eagraíocht Ghaeilge a dhéanamh den aon fhoras stáit atá ann, a bhfuil fócas Ghaeltachta aige. Ó bunaíodh Gaeltarra Éireann, os cionn 40 bliain ó shin, glacadh leis gur theastaigh eagras stáit faoi leith chun forbairt geilleagair, cultúir agus sóisialta na gceantracha Gaeltachta a chur chun cinn. ..
Dhá scór bliain ó shin, tháinig an smaoineamh chun cinn faoi Údarás na Gaeltachta agus throid Cearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta feachtas fada len é a bhaint amach. Bunaíodh é tríocha bliain ó shin ach is Gaeltarra Éireann faoi ainm eile, a cuireadh ar bun. Dá dhonacht é, is fearr ann ná as é. Tá ceist na teanga sa Ghaeltacht fite fuaite le forbairt geilleagair, fostaíochta is sóisialta. Ní eagraíocht náisiúnta Ghaeilge a theastaíonn le beatha na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht a chinntiú do na glúnta atá le tíocht, ach Údarás ceart Gaeltachta a bheadh níos feidhmiúla, níos cumhachtaí agus ag a mbeadh na hacmhainní cuí. Má ghlactar leis an gcáipéis seo gan é a leasú, tá faitíos orm gur stráitéis mharfach don Ghaeltacht a bheas ann."
I am going to go down to my Ma's and Da's house now in Roscommon every week for a few days until I get a job. I'll go down on Monday and come back on Wednesday or Thursday. I am going to have to buy a bike. The house is in the real country five miles outside Castlerea. I will cycle in probably once a day which will be great exercise. Also will be getting my laptop fixed. I may in a while just go down there for two days, I'll see how I get on. It's kind of like the spiritiual journey about going up the mountain for peace/enlightemnet or whatever and then you come back down again. I will be going there for a few days every week in total peace and solitude although will talk to our neighbour every day and then I will be coming back to Dublin on Wednesday or Thursday. I always wanted to live in the country. I think I am too used to Dublin now though to live there full-time. Now I have the best of both worlds although neither house that I am living in is mine. Budget next week. I may go into it, having a Dáil pass now. Will be posting more regularly now on this blog given that I no longer post on that site politics.ie.
I am no longer going to post on politics.ie. It has like indymedia descended into a cranks forum. There are one or two good posters and dozens of OK ones but the cranks have taken it over. A new user has a username attacking a party leader in a nasty way. I started a thread about the question in general of users being able to do this and the response I got was appaling. That is- just abuse. When I left the thread last night there were four pages on it now there are 14. I had a look at the last one this morning and all it is is abuse and a lot of it is not even on topic; just general abuse between posters on it. The site started in 2003 and I started posting on it soon after. I've had a handful of different usernames. I've used my name in Irish Darren Mac an Phríora since 2006. Yes I will probably still look in on it occassionely to see if there is anything good amongst the disturbing level of vitriol. But I won't be debating on it.
Thosaigh mé snáth faoi ar politics.ie ar cur fáilte air. Anois táim tar éis athrú meon a dhéanamh mar is léir ó mo phost deireanach. Nílim chun páirt a ghlacadh sa rud seo ar aon taobh.
I started a thread (above) on politics.ie about it welcoming it. Now I have had a change of mind as can be seen on my last post on it. I am not going to take part in this thing on any side.
Mar forlíonadh saor in aisce leis an Irish Indo chuile Chéadaoin. Go h-IONTACH!!!!
As a free supplement with The Indo every Wednesday. EXCELLENT!!!
D'fhoilsigh The Sunday Tribune litir asam inniu i leith na gaelscoileanna. Níl a fhios agam cén fáth a rinné sí roinnt eagarthóireacht air mar shampla ag athrú an focal "affect" go dtí "effect" don dara uair i litir asam. Ní raibh sí ag déanamh aon eagarthóireacht ar litreacha asam bhliain ó shin. Cíbe rud is é seo an litir a sheol mé chucu. Is é an teideal an teideal sa nuachtán.
Cuir in eagar: táim tar éis a fháil amach go bhfuil 5 ní 3 feachtais do gaelscoileanna nua i mBaile Átha Cliath. Ceann amháin do gaelcholáiste eile, Coláiste Ghlór na Mara, i mBaile Brigín ina measc. Cool!!!
FG 35% +1
FF 25% +1
LB 19% +1
SF 9% +1
GP 3% -1
IND 9% -2
I had just typed a fairly long post looking into the strength of the parties on the ground across the state to help gauge how long-term the growth in support in FG and LB and decrease in support for FF can be viewed. Talking about tactically on the ground how different the parties are. However Enda Kenny will I believe be a great Taoiseach and Eamon Gilmore will be a great Tánaiste so FF won't be able to get mud to stick on them amongst moderate middle-of-the-road people. They are very capable men. And the FG front bench along with several of the Labour front bench are great also. So they will all make great Ministers. Mícheál Martin and Brian Lenihan would be reasonably popular leaders of FF though. What the next FG/Labour Government though achieve in Government will throw out of the water FF complaints abouth them not being good enough in the context of how atrocious they have been for the last twelve years- see property bubble. Richard Bruton as Minister for Finance!!!! Dr. James Reilly as Minister for Health!!!! Portfolios also for Leo Varadkar, Olwyn Enright, Ruairí Quinn, Joan Burton, Brian Hayes, Fergus O' Dowd, Jan O' Sullivan, Michael D. Higgins, Charlie Flanagan, Pat Rabbitte, Kathleen Lynch. OK maybe not all will get- most will- senior Ministerial positions. Most if not all will be Ministers of some kind. Several definitely will be senior Ministers.
With the huge growth in citizen journalism political decisions and politicians are scruitinised today like never before. See political websites and blogs. If also, of course this is always directly practical, you have an idea on something about politics email the relevant Minister. You don't have to write a letter- it's easier to send an email. With the current lot many of them won't get back to you. But the next FG/LB lot will. If your idea makes sense they will go with it or take it on board. Even today if Ministers don't get back to you you can contact the FG/LB spokespeople. I have two ideas that I have thought of that make sense. I am sure that I thought of one of them and although a handful of others may also have thought about the other one- and one group is lobbying as well on it now- I was the first I believe to actually articulate the argument albeit not in the mainstream media (the Ard-Runaí of the group now lobbying on the latter knows me and I suspect got the idea off me). These are 1) there should be an amendment to a planning law or a note in a new planning law saying that in new residential developments both the Irish and English names of the developments should be displayed- with equal prominence, no differences, to both- on the entrance pillars to the developments. 2) That again with a planning law that all councils should be encouraged or told to have naming committees to name new residential developments. They exist in several counties and councils.
These are not going to be my only two contributions to the next FG/LB Government but I will be getting onto them about it. Recently emailed Brian Lenihan about the first so I'll see what he has to say. No faith in him though, broadly speaking in comparison to the FG and LB spokespeople/future Ministers.
What are your ideas for what you want to see done but won't get done with the current lot???
