Enda needs to either have an affair. Maybe with Carla Bruni or Angelina Jolie ( or both?), then repent, be seen dishevelled with some stubble for a bit, beg forgiveness of Mrs.K and tell us all how sorry he is.
Or have a very ill child ( yes, I know this is in poor taste, but this is the reality of public perception), cancer or some other devastating illness. Then appear teary eyed in several interviews.
Or appear to be a bit of a rogue in a harmless, but potentially illegal ( in the grey area as the irish percieve things- which would be black for our english neighbours) way.
Or have a gay affair- no scratch that one, don't think we're ready for that yet.
Or something, anything except his bland general goody two shoes sort of way.
Where the hell are the pr people?
Anyone see the bumpkin on six one last night bouncing out of Dail Eireann shouting "Up Mayo!" "Mayo won it!"
"Enda’s jubilant supporters, up for the day from Castlebar, wanted to carry their man shoulder-high down the Leinster House plinth. They were gently dissuaded from this course of action by party handlers anxious not to further spook the Dublin vote.
As it was, they prayed the leader’s live television interview wouldn’t be punctuated by the same visceral roars of “Up Mayo!” that greeted the news of “Inda’s” stunning victory in yesterday’s leadership contest."
The irony is that he has a great personality. Much more personable when you meet him than say Bertie - the so-called man of the people.
I was seated next to him (EK) on a flight from Brussels some months ago. He was exceptionally good company and good fun, having the craic with the air hostesses - not a bit like the stiff shirt he comes across as being when he turns up in the Dail. He was comfortably talking to anyone he came into contact with.
I think his image may be a confidence thing - he's not sure enough about the subjects he's required to get stirred about. Not sure what he can about except get a bit more stuck into the subject matter and spend a bit less time shaking hands from one end of the country to the other.
Mayo won it??? Won what? I was embarrassed watching the oaf. The parochialism in this country is bloody pathetic.
The parochialism in this country is bloody pathetic.
Isn't Mrs. Inda a PR type?. She's ex-RTE and an ex-FF press-officer; fairly heavy-duty by all accounts, but I wouldn't know one from a retired Swiss Admiral.... Where the hell are the pr people?
...but I wouldn't know one from a retired Swiss Admiral.
Is this for real? You claim that Labour have no policies, because the particular policy that you want isn't on the main policy page? The fact that there is a link on the right side of that page to 'Full Policy Listing' and 'Policy Centre Search' is some sort of criticism on Labour? Will ya get off the stage! The policies are there. If you want to read them, read them. If you don't want to read them, don't. But don't lie about there being no policies just because two or three clicks is too much effort for you.Why should I have to use Google instead of the the Labour website to see what their ideas are?
There are 9 policy documents from the six months to date of 2010, 30 from 2009, 12 from 2008 and the full General Election policy amongst others from 2007. The policies are there. If you want to read them, read them. If you don't want to read them, don't. But don't lie about there being no policies just because two or three clicks is too much effort for you.And you can stop using policy documents from 2004 and 2005 to defend your assertion that Labour have been releasing major policy initiatives on a pretty regular basis. So again, what are their policies considering the new economic climate we live in?
Did you criticise the others over their real failings, or just stuff that you made up?You have no idea what my political views are. I have criticised every political party over various issues on this forum.
That's true - but I wasn't making this point to get kudos for Labour. I just wanted to point out the factual error in Sunny's claim.Think about it from the "average voter" view. Aside from a relatively small minority of interested/committed supporters, how many actively go onto the various party websites and read all the policies? It's a sad fact that most voters will get their information from the media and soundbites.
I hadn't thought too much about this, but you could be onto something. Maybe the media is more interested in showing Gilmore on attack rather than Gilmore on policy? Maybe Gilmore has made a conscious decision to leave the policy issues in the capable hands of Joan and others, and focus on exposing the Govt's track record.And so outside of the website, how much specific content have we seen from Gilmore? Well purely from my own view, not much. I've actually heard more specific information given by Rabbitte, and being honest some of it isn't bad (there's a caveat to that). The point is take the clips of Gilmore and what do we actually have in terms of content? We have stabs at the government, well they deserve it, we have a statement saying he'll let the unions decide on Croke Park (yes but Eamon, what do you think of the content, not the process?) and we know what he doesn't like about the government policies.
But without seeking out the information from the website, you wouldn't know half the policies or specifics. The Labour party has them, but Gilmore isn't exactly drawing attention to them when he's in public (I'll concede others in the party are to some extent).
So it is valid to say he's style over substance. And it is an issue given that the majority of voters won't be downloading policy documents off a party's website. That's not Gilmore's problem I'd accept.
Labour are very clear about the mess that our current Govt have created, and know that there are no easy solutions. However, you can be absolutely certain that the solutions implemented by Labour in Govt will be based on fundamental principles of fairness, unlike the steps taking by FF and Greena Fail.The caveat to the Labour policies is that when you do strip them down, yes they are valid and yes they have a point, but that point seems to be accepting many of the cuts highlighted in McCarthy and others. They seem to actually agree with the government on many things, but not on social welfare and a few others. And so that's where I can't support them just yet, we have to consider all expenditure in my opinion.
But for all the sniping, by and large they're still going to follow the programme of cuts and savings, including the pay for the PS/CS.
Wow, those goalposts are moving so fast, it is all just a blur to me. First it was 'They say nothing', then it was complaining that the new stuff is too short and the older stuff is too old, now it is picking out the three specific areas/dates where you know the answer is 'No', and setting this up as just a typical question.maybe you can give me a link to a major policy document on health, justice or education published in the past three years.
That's not fair, it's not as if Health, Justice and Education are major areas of spending or important to the countries future.maybe you can give me a link to a major policy document on health, justice or education published in the past three years.
Does this mean that when people who go into the ballot box in the next general election will say to themselves that ....well I was going to vote for the FG candidate or an anti government or labour candidate,buy hey that might mean Enda could be taoiseach...O.K. I`ll vote back the FF candidate despite all the corruption and my own desperate job/income situation.
The taoiseach selection only comes into play when the numbers are added up after the general election.
I really don't think Enda will ever be Taoiseach. If he is still in charge of FG when the election comes round, he will be their limiting factor again. I did hear some speculation over the weekend that Bruton's coup was engineered by some of the young FG turks (the Hayes/Verodokar axis) who are very happy to see Bruton off the agenda for the next round of leadership battles.
Agree.
I think that Labour will nominate Gilmore and Labour combined with SF and left wing leaning independents will have similar numbers to FG. Labour has always had an mercenary streak and will use the threat of going into Government with FF to ensure that Gilmore is Taoiseach. They may even go into Government with FF if FF let Gilmore be Taoiseach.
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