Simon Harris 6/4 on favourite to be next Tea Shop

Duke of Marmalade

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So Jo told Leo he was too young for the job. PaddyPower quick out of the traps.
Simon Harris 4/6
Simon Coveney 7/2
Paschal 4/1
 
I did not see either of those events coming... Leo stepping down now or Simon Harris as favourite.
 
As a FG member, I wasn't a fan of Leo and same can be said of Simon or Coveney.
If Paschal goes for it I'll vote for him.
 
I liked Leo. He was generally s straight talker and his own person. I'm sorry to see him go.

I'm a big fan of Pascal but I'm not sure he'd make a good Taoiseach.
I think Simon Harris would make a good Taoiseach but I'm not sure if he's enough political experience yet.
I also think Simon Coveney would make a good Taoiseach but he missed the boat last time around and that might go against him.
 
Harris will get it because pascals for europe and coveney just simply wont be taoiseach. No wonder harris odds on, almost unbackable. Id like Pascal though.
 
I'm sorry to see him go. Like Purple I thought he was a relatively straight talker and called things out that others may have tried to avoid or tone down their language on.
Fine Gael appears to be shipping TDs at a rate of noughts.
 
No surprise to hear Paul Murphy does not want a taoiseach elected by the FG party :rolleyes: .
You'd think a TD would understand the concept of a parliamentary democracy... or in Paul's case, approve of a leader being elected by the partee not the countree...
 
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Varadker and Coveney were gunning for Enda Kenny back in 2017 when it was a plum job and after all the hard yards Kenny put in to restoring everything, now FG is in a shambles after Varadker went for the woke and progressive agenda at the expense of everything else, now nobody wants the job and they are losing sitting TDs left right and centre. Leo Varadker was too fond of grand standing on the global stage, what will the irish american movers and shakers in Washington and even Joe Biden think after all this, they wasted their time and money on wining and dining with what they thought was the irish taoiseach only for him to resign a few days later.
 
Varadker and Coveney were gunning for Enda Kenny back in 2017 when it was a plum job and after all the hard yards Kenny put in to restoring everything, now FG is in a shambles
Couldn't agree more with your post, for my money Kenny was the best Taoiseach we ever had, I remember being annoyed with Varadkar for pushing against Enda but when it was inevitable hoping he would be as successful as Kenny.....he wasn't not even within an asses Roar.
 
on the tonight show they were talking about leo varadker legacy, they said varadker expanded the state sector from 67 billion in 2017 to 110 billion today. So Varadker actually expanded the state more than ever before, of course he gets no credit for this from SF and the left wing parties. He was never a traditional FG conservative but was actually big state, big government. Of course almost all this money came from the FDI sector. But by expanding the state so much he made it less attractive to be a private sector worker and thats why he built so little infrastructure and housing and created bottle necks and shortages. Maybe Varadker should have had a Galway tent like Bertie to get builders building rather than tents in Mount st.
 
on the tonight show they were talking about leo varadker legacy, they said varadker expanded the state sector from 67 billion in 2017 to 110 billion today.
Yep, describing FG as a right wing party is ridiculous. I've even read a certain moronic Shinner crony who writes in the Irish Times describe Leo and a Neo-Conservative. That made me laugh.

The current government is significantly to the left of centre. I've no problem expanding the State if it's done properly, and I think we need more Civil Servants (rather than Public Servants), but I have a big problem with the waste and structural inefficiency within most of the State Sector and the complete failure of this government, or any other before it in my lifetime, to attempt to seriously address those issues.

The more of the States resources that are wasted the worse off the people who rely on the State feel. That in many ways is the legacy of this government. I like Leo but I think he failed utterly to address this.
 
Yep, describing FG as a right wing party is ridiculous.

The current government is significantly to the left of centre.
Fine Gael is a centre right party, would imagine a lot of FG members have had problem with FG direction under Varadkar, there are more than enough parties representing the left and the rabid left. I always felt Varadkar was in the wrong party.
 
Fine Gael is a centre right party, would imagine a lot of FG members have had problem with FG direction under Varadkar, there are more than enough parties representing the left and the rabid left. I always felt Varadkar was in the wrong party.
FG certainly were centre right but it was Fitzgerald, not Varadkar, who moved them to the left on social issues.
All political parties are populist on economic issues. Those who oppose wealth tax (Also known as property tax) can't seriously consider themselves left wing.
 
On varadker legacy it will be basically that he inherited a very healthy economy that continued to boom driven by the US dominated FDI sector. However with that money he failed to deliver infrastructure or housing ,did not do the ground work regarding this because he did not like dealing with grubby builders and developers. Was fixated on building his own personal international profile during brexit negotiations rather than pragmatic quiet diplomacy especially with Theresa may who was on a very sticky wicket within the tory party. Varadker basically took advantage of her weakness to big up his own profile. I think alot of the immigration problems we have today stem from the hard line that he took over the border. That means he was unable to do a deal or even have customary checks on the border to dissuade illegal migration. This basically stopped around 2018 when the government stopped doing any checks because the border became a symbol of brexit. I think Michael Martin or enda Kenny would have handled all that much better.
 
On varadker legacy it will be basically that he inherited a very healthy economy that continued to boom driven by the US dominated FDI sector. However with that money he failed to deliver infrastructure or housing ,did not do the ground work regarding this because he did not like dealing with grubby builders and developers. Was fixated on building his own personal international profile during brexit negotiations rather than pragmatic quiet diplomacy especially with Theresa may who was on a very sticky wicket within the tory party. Varadker basically took advantage of her weakness to big up his own profile. I think alot of the immigration problems we have today stem from the hard line that he took over the border. That means he was unable to do a deal or even have customary checks on the border to dissuade illegal migration. This basically stopped around 2018 when the government stopped doing any checks because the border became a symbol of brexit. I think Michael Martin or enda Kenny would have handled all that much better.
I disagree with just about all of that.
 
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Seems like Simon Harris will get it by default...

Simon Coveney, Helen McEntee, Paschal Donohoe and Heather Humphreys have all ruled themselves out of the running, paving the way for the Wicklow TD to become the youngest Taoiseach Ireland has ever had.

 
I think alot of the immigration problems we have today stem from the hard line that he took over the border. That means he was unable to do a deal or even have customary checks on the border to dissuade illegal migration. This basically stopped around 2018 when the government stopped doing any checks because the border became a symbol of brexit.
Are you suggesting that we have illegal immigrants coming in to the country via Northern Ireland?
I know the UK economy is a basket case, due mainly to Brexit, but since there is free movement between the UK and Ireland any British economic migrants are allowed to come here legally.

The issue the "Hands off our Handouts" people have is with legal immigrants and legal International Asylum Applicants who get supports from the State. The scroungers, sorry, protesters, are concerned that those people will get resources that they would otherwise receive. I'm glad we, as one of the richest countries in the world, are doing something, small as it may be, to help those who need it.
 
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