Will you vote for Fianna Fail?

[easytiger95]

Bit more complex than "I wanna stay near me ma" - if you have to go down the country, or up to Dublin, with a young family and away from a support group of family, friends etc - you have the terrible expense of child care. So instead of a rural idyll, you;re paying the same amount as a mortgage just to be able to work, so you can pay your childcare, which is as expensive as a mortgage.

i'll vote for the party that brings us in affordable state childcare, and if they have to up taxes to do so, as long as the service is good, I'll be happy to pay it. It is a huge millstone around exactly the economic sector that you need firing if you want a proper recovery.

[muppet]

Bit more complex than "I wanna stay near me ma" - if you have to go down the country, or up to Dublin, with a young family and away from a support group of family, friends etc - you have the terrible expense of child care. So instead of a rural idyll, you;re paying the same amount as a mortgage just to be able to work, so you can pay your childcare, which is as expensive as a mortgage.

i'll vote for the party that brings us in affordable state childcare, and if they have to up taxes to do so, as long as the service is good, I'll be happy to pay it. It is a huge millstone around exactly the economic sector that you need firing if you want a proper recovery.

I am with you on health care.

But a homeless family is way beyond that. If they had a functional support network they wouldn't be on the streets.

[easytiger95]

I was thinking more of the perceived attitude of the Dubs being homebirds. I don't think there is any provable cases of homeless people refusing to go to Granard - and I think it is going to be a plank of the government's response to the situation given what I heard on the news today.

that said, Dublin is the best place in the world.

Altogether now

"Cooooooommmmmmeeee ooooonnnnnnnnnnn you, boys in blue, c'mon you boys in blue...."

[muppet]

I was thinking more of the perceived attitude of the Dubs being homebirds. I don't think there is any provable cases of homeless people refusing to go to Granard - and I think it is going to be a plank of the government's response to the situation given what I heard on the news today.

that said, Dublin is the best place in the world.

Altogether now

"Cooooooommmmmmeeee ooooonnnnnnnnnnn you, boys in blue, c'mon you boys in blue...."

I have no issue with Dubs, I have lived here for a long time.

Although that will change briefly on the 30th. 

[The Insider]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

[Rossfan]

They can't get anyone to stand in Roscommon
If they'd had any decency they would have dissolved the party after the 2011 Gen Election.
As for gender quotas...... Horsesh1te.

[macdanger2]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

[foxcommander]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

Quotas of anything jobwise are pretty stupid. Don't give the best person the job.
It's that PC sh1t again.

[muppet]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

The imposition of quotas shows little we care about the level of performance and ability of our politicians.

Imagine announcing that next year 50% of all heart surgeons had to be women, or that 50% of all primary teachers had to be men. Obviously these figure couldn't be achieved unless there were loads of unemployed, but qualified, female heart surgeons or male primary teachers waiting for their big chance. Also consider the difference between an inexperienced heart surgeon and an experienced one.

None of these issues seem to bother those in favour of quotes, so when we get completely unsuitable, inexperienced TDs, we will know why.

[foxcommander]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

The imposition of quotas shows little we care about the level of performance and ability of our politicians.

Imagine announcing that next year 50% of all heart surgeons had to be women, or that 50% of all primary teachers had to be men. Obviously these figure couldn't be achieved unless there were loads of unemployed, but qualified, female heart surgeons or male primary teachers waiting for their big chance. Also consider the difference between an inexperienced heart surgeon and an experienced one.

None of these issues seem to bother those in favour of quotes, so when we get completely unsuitable, inexperienced TDs, we will know why.

Lest we forget
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DcNSBksKjM

[Maguire01]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

The imposition of quotas shows little we care about the level of performance and ability of our politicians.

Imagine announcing that next year 50% of all heart surgeons had to be women, or that 50% of all primary teachers had to be men. Obviously these figure couldn't be achieved unless there were loads of unemployed, but qualified, female heart surgeons or male primary teachers waiting for their big chance. Also consider the difference between an inexperienced heart surgeon and an experienced one.

None of these issues seem to bother those in favour of quotes, so when we get completely unsuitable, inexperienced TDs, we will know why.

We get that already. I can understand people having reservations around such quotas, but I don't believe for a minute that it will reduce the quality of representation.

[macdanger2]

None of these issues seem to bother those in favour of quotes, so when we get completely unsuitable, inexperienced TDs, we will know why.

Not that I'm in favour of quotas but the current system gives us plenty of unsuitable candidates experienced in little more than plamàs.

[muppet]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

The imposition of quotas shows little we care about the level of performance and ability of our politicians.

Imagine announcing that next year 50% of all heart surgeons had to be women, or that 50% of all primary teachers had to be men. Obviously these figure couldn't be achieved unless there were loads of unemployed, but qualified, female heart surgeons or male primary teachers waiting for their big chance. Also consider the difference between an inexperienced heart surgeon and an experienced one.

None of these issues seem to bother those in favour of quotes, so when we get completely unsuitable, inexperienced TDs, we will know why.

We get that already. I can understand people having reservations around such quotas, but I don't believe for a minute that it will reduce the quality of representation.

I think it is bad at the moment too, but it will get worse with quotas.

[Maguire01]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

The imposition of quotas shows little we care about the level of performance and ability of our politicians.

Imagine announcing that next year 50% of all heart surgeons had to be women, or that 50% of all primary teachers had to be men. Obviously these figure couldn't be achieved unless there were loads of unemployed, but qualified, female heart surgeons or male primary teachers waiting for their big chance. Also consider the difference between an inexperienced heart surgeon and an experienced one.

None of these issues seem to bother those in favour of quotes, so when we get completely unsuitable, inexperienced TDs, we will know why.

We get that already. I can understand people having reservations around such quotas, but I don't believe for a minute that it will reduce the quality of representation.

I think it is bad at the moment too, but it will get worse with quotas.

I don't see any sound basis for this. It implies that the current system produces the best possible candidates. It's just as likely that this will produce candidates of equal or better quality.

[muppet]

Some mess in Longford last night when a female candidate with no track record in politics imposed. If they thought the Fianna Fáil vote in Longford collapsed in the last election,it will disappear now . The local independent will make hay with this .Bad enough that the Fine Gael candidate is known as Bonkers Bannon we now are expected to vote for a candidate that the local Fianna Fáil party don't want and most didn't know about till this morning. Equality my arse . The best person should always get selected irrespective of colour ,creed or sex with no pandering to gender quotas

Maybe someone without a "track record in politics" is exactly who we need??

Achieving better gender balance is a good idea but quotas is a fairly blunt way of doing it. Some effort should be made to increase the diversity of experience of those entering politics, something like 25% of TDs are or were teachers 

The imposition of quotas shows little we care about the level of performance and ability of our politicians.

Imagine announcing that next year 50% of all heart surgeons had to be women, or that 50% of all primary teachers had to be men. Obviously these figure couldn't be achieved unless there were loads of unemployed, but qualified, female heart surgeons or male primary teachers waiting for their big chance. Also consider the difference between an inexperienced heart surgeon and an experienced one.

None of these issues seem to bother those in favour of quotes, so when we get completely unsuitable, inexperienced TDs, we will know why.

We get that already. I can understand people having reservations around such quotas, but I don't believe for a minute that it will reduce the quality of representation.

I think it is bad at the moment too, but it will get worse with quotas.

I don't see any sound basis for this. It implies that the current system produces the best possible candidates. It's just as likely that this will produce candidates of equal or better quality.

How?

The current process sees the 'best' rise, battle, con, swindle or whatever their way to the top.

Quotas simply ensure that candidates with less political ability can now be fast tracked into the job. Suggesting that this might produce better quality is absurd. It wouldn't produce better candidates in any function, so why might it in politics?