Will you vote for Fianna Fail?

[seafoid]

Fianna Fáil SHAFTED the "small guys" in the State........... the small farmer, agricultural labourer, the labourers, tradesmen, urban industrial class etc. They condemned the country to 20+ years of economic nihilism.

They told everyone in 2007 that if any other party came to power the economy would suffer.   

This June 2011 letter to the Irish Times says what needs to be said very succinctly

•    Madam, –  In reference to all of the eulogies for Brian Lenihan, let's not forget his legacy. It is as follows: he has left a once proud nation on its knees. The crony system of Irish politics allowed him to assume responsibilities for which he was not capable.The nation must now live with the consequences. – Yours, etc,
FRANK MONAGHAN,

[LeoMc]

Fianna Fáil SHAFTED the "small guys" in the State........... the small farmer, agricultural labourer, the labourers, tradesmen, urban industrial class etc. They condemned the country to 20+ years of economic nihilism.

They told everyone in 2007 that if any other party came to power the economy would suffer.   

This June 2011 letter to the Irish Times says what needs to be said very succinctly

•    Madam, –  In reference to all of the eulogies for Brian Lenihan, let's not forget his legacy. It is as follows: he has left a once proud nation on its knees. The crony system of Irish politics allowed him to assume responsibilities for which he was not capable.The nation must now live with the consequences. – Yours, etc,
FRANK MONAGHAN,

The move away from the "small man" to whomever would bank-roll them and damn the "small man" is reminiscent of another Republican party post 1948 and their abandonment of the "mom and pop" business class they purported to represent.

[seafoid]

The last FF government was a car crash


2008
7 May: Brian Cowen is elected prime minister.
Sept 25: Ireland is the first eurozone country to go into recession after its property bubble bursts.
Sept 30: Following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, Ireland approves a guarantee covering €400bn (£341bn) of liabilities at six Irish-owned banks.
Dec 21: Ireland injects €5.5bn (£4.7bn) into its three main banks, taking Anglo Irish Bank under government control.
2009
March 30: Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor downgrades Ireland's rating from AAA to AA+.
April 8: Fitch, another ratings agency, downgrades Ireland to AA+. Finance minister Brian Lenihan unveils €10.6 bn (£9bn) spending cuts for 2010-2011 in an emergency budget.
2010
Aug 25: Standard and Poor's cuts Ireland's long-term credit rating by one notch to AA-.
Sept 30: Ireland discloses a worst-case price tag of more than €50bn (£43bn) for bailing out its banks.
Oct 6: Fitch cuts Ireland's credit rating to A+ from AA-.
Nov 22: Eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) begin working out details of rescue package for Ireland's banking sector.
Nov 24: Ireland unveils a €15bn (£13bn) four-year austerity plan. It includes thousands of public sector job cuts, VAT rises and cuts in social welfare spending.
Nov 28: The EU approves an €85bn rescue package for Ireland.
Dec 7: Ireland sets out its toughest ever budget on record, including €6bn in tax rises and spending cuts.
Dec 9: Fitch becomes the first credit agency to strip Ireland of its A rating, slashing it by three notches to BBB+.
Dec 15: Parliament approves the EU/IMF bailout package.
Dec 17: Moody's cuts Ireland's credit rating to BAA1, with a negative outlook.
2011
Jan 13: Cowen attempts a cabinet reshuffle but speculation mounts over a leadership challenge.
In a parliamentary party meeting, he tells TDs and senators he will consult with them over the next 48 hours to assess if he should stay on.
Jan 16: Cowen defends his position, claiming he has the support of the majority of the party.
Rebel TD Micheal Martin resigns as foreign affairs minister and calls on the taoiseach to step aside.
Jan 17: Ministers and TDs spend the day briefing for or against the taoiseach, who appears to have a slim majority wanting him to stay.
Jan 18: Cowen survives the self-imposed vote of confidence in his leadership.
Jan 19: Mary Harney announces her resignation at 9pm, followed by three other ministers at 11pm – Dermot Ahern, Noel Dempsey and Tony Killeen.
Jan 20: 07.00: Green leader John Gormley rings Cowen after 7am and says it is a serious matter and calls for a meeting.
08.30: The two sides hold the first of a series of meetings to discuss the affair. The Greens are adamant they warned they would not support any new appointments.
09.30: Batt O'Keeffe, "best friend" of the taoiseach, becomes the fifth cabinet casualty when his resignation is leaked.
11.00: The Dail is suspended amid accusations that Cowen is pulling a political stunt in filling cabinet posts with election candidates.
13.30: The taoiseach outlines in the Dail the reassignment of ministries among sitting cabinet members and the election date of 11 March.
16.45: The Greens detail their complete lack of knowledge about resignations from the cabinet and their attempts to stop the posts being filled.
Jan 21: Former finance minister Ray McSharry publicly talks of his dismay with the week-long turmoil.
Junior minister Conor Lenihan likens the unprecedented events to "car crash politics".
Cowen denies he should stand down.

Jan 22: 1400: Cowen announces he will remain as head of government but quit as the Fianna Fáil leader.

Feb 25 :  FF wins 20 seats FFS . Many constituences return 0  FFers. Brian Lenihan is the only FF TD in Dublin.

[rosnarun]

When ever any thing goes wrong people always blame theor own favorite bug bear,
cronyism,Planing corruption,bailing the banks  may be wrong but it did not cause the bubble or the crash
The opposition hounded fianna fail for their high tax rates .
The umemployed hounded the last Goverment For  low SW rates
the public servants hounded the Governmant and theathen strikes for more pay,
every one wanted more money spent on the health service ,

these are the things that caused the Crash because right or wrong  we could not afford them.
.
it 2 greatest steps by FF were the SSIA and the Pension reserve fund  which were hugly divided by the opposition and the intellctual's but they help keep a lid on the bubble while doing much good and in the case of the Pension reserve it still is.
in retro spect Brian and bertie will be shown to have done a lot more right than wrong

[seafoid]

Diarmuid Ferriter knows FF better than most people. It will be very hard for the party to come back as a serious power after what it did .

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0326/1224313893518.html

Another problem was that Fianna Fáil was simply in power for far too long and the longer it held office and dispensed patronage the more perverted the definition of loyalty became, in order to justify cover-ups and lies. Lightweights were rewarded and promoted well beyond their capabilities, which resulted in a considerable devaluation of politics and the status of public office. Those who called for accountability within this culture experienced fear, menace and intimidation.
As we edge towards the centenary of the events that comprised the revolution of the early 20th century, we face a stark conclusion: this is a State bereft of meaningful sovereignty due to its bankruptcy and a State whose governing culture has been exposed as rotten.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0301/1224291075967.html

Fianna Fáil's vote collapsed because it managed to alienate all sections of Irish society, beyond a hard core of loyalists. Almost all its candidates witnessed anger on the canvass because so many people are experiencing fear and uncertainty about issues that historically have caused much pain to the Irish, and which they hoped during the boom had been consigned to history – mass unemployment, emigration, dispossession and loss of control of national destiny.

That Fianna Fáil has always made control of that destiny an essential part of its rhetoric and appeal makes the magnitude of its defeat particularly notable, but its critics can argue with much justification that its self-serving pragmatism, another essential part of its identity, finally caught up with it. As the UCD historian Desmond Williams once observed, the party for many years was able effectively to manipulate voters by issuing "firm statements followed by intricate qualifications".
The firm statements emanating from the party during the last Dáil about a viable survival plan, not involving outside intervention, were the most hollow ever, and during that period the intricate qualifications – giving a blanket guarantee of bank liabilities and ultimately opening the door to the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, effectively resulted in a loss of sovereignty.

These developments were perceived as amounting to the abandonment by the party of one of its core commitments at its foundation in 1926 – "to make the resources and wealth of Ireland subservient to the needs and welfare of the people of Ireland".

The challenge of making Fianna Fáil relevant again, particularly as it will be sharing the opposition benches with others who claim to be much more devoted to egalitarianism and republicanism than it, is considera

[Rossfan]

in retro spect Brian and bertie will be shown to have done a lot more right than wrong

Ahhh for f*** sake - go and start a Comedy thread as that's a very good joke you've come up with.

[Premier Emperor]

All Bertie and Cowen did was give the people what they wanted.
The public wanted low taxes, but heavy spending on services.
That's the great thing about democracy, you vote for it, you get it, you live with the consequences.

[Tubberman]

All Bertie and Cowen did was give the people what they wanted.
The public wanted low taxes, but heavy spending on services.
That's the great thing about democracy, you vote for it, you get it, you live with the consequences.

Giving the people what they want is not good governance.

[Premier Emperor]

All Bertie and Cowen did was give the people what they wanted.
The public wanted low taxes, but heavy spending on services.
That's the great thing about democracy, you vote for it, you get it, you live with the consequences.

Giving the people what they want is not good governance.

Good governance means you become the opposition at the next election!

[Hound]

All Bertie and Cowen did was give the people what they wanted.
The public wanted low taxes, but heavy spending on services.
That's the great thing about democracy, you vote for it, you get it, you live with the consequences.

Giving the people what they want is not good governance.

But its how you get votes. Especially when the opposition are screaming at you to spend even more.

[rosnarun]

All Bertie and Cowen did was give the people what they wanted.
The public wanted low taxes, but heavy spending on services.
That's the great thing about democracy, you vote for it, you get it, you live with the consequences.

but now that FG/LAB realize that FF were doing what needed to be done and have broken all their election Promises / tthe electoraet are say they have no mandate to do this . this not what we voted for.
you cant have it both ways

Giving the people what they want is not good governance.

[mylestheslasher]

I see the 25% have re-surfaced on this thread after being in hiding for the past couple of years. I'm sorry, anyone who votes for FF is an idiot with the mind of a goldfish.

[deiseach]

I see the 25% have re-surfaced on this thread after being in hiding for the past couple of years. I'm sorry, anyone who votes for FF is an idiot with the mind of a goldfish.

I'd hate to see what you'd say if you weren't feeling sorry

[Premier Emperor]

Fianna Fail are the best future option.
They've gotten rid of the dead wood and have learned a few harsh lessons to keep them honest for a few years.

[Rossfan]

Fianna Fail are the best future option.
They've gotten rid of the dead wood and have learned a few harsh lessons to keep them honest for a few years.

Ahhh lads this comedy thing is going too far