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Still, if it does manage to get a few tourists in the country (I doubt whther it will) then it'd be worth it.

The visit is only supposed to be worth about €150 million in advertising to the country.


Hardly worth it really

Clearly I was talking about Inda's raucous speech and not the visit itself.

Finally got around to watching Kenny's speech earlier. Jesus lads yiz are fierce hard on the fella! There was damn all wrong with his speech! He thanked the people for their warmth over the last few days (alluding to Queen Elizabeth's visit), paraphrased Obama for a few lines, then covered all the bases you'd expect him to cover.  You could tell the crowd was eager to hear Obama himself but he still kept their attention. His delivery was fine. It was a little bit throaty but I think that added to the passion of it rather than take away from it.

+1

I just watched the whole thing again and I have to say that I didnt find anything cringe worthy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEm8ZGfYt3M

Strange the only ones embarrassed by Kenny's rhetoric are Nordies.

Is a west of Ireland accent that alien that it embarrasses people in the North?
The mention of didly-dee Ireland and begorrah's in the speech (which there wasnt any) is ironic considering you all flood towns like Westport and Galway for that reason and to escape the marching season when it suits you. Stay where you are if thats your attitude.

I often drink pints during the day when its raining outside, listen to live, so called "didly-dee" music and talk to people that use a hell of lot more west of Ireland and Irish idiom's than begorrah.   

Kenny was trying to lift the spirits of the Irish people and be positive and proud of Ireland and that came across very well.

Im far more disappointed in peoples negativity and attitude, but you always get the knockers.

That's a bit harsh.  I personally just thought it seemed OTT with a great deal of back-slapping, bluster and emotion, and I don't think he has the presence to carry that kind of behaviour off.  The crowd was going wild for O'Bama anyway so he didn't need to whip them up like a ring announcer at a fight.

He must have been advised to jazz up his introduction for the US audience as he's always come across as a fairly conservative man to me, and surely he would have been a bit uncomfortable going on like that.  Still, if it does manage to get a few tourists in the country (I doubt whther it will) then it'd be worth it.

In defence of Thomas (as she seems to be the one getting bashed on here) Giggs found out the Sun had got wind of the story and were going to run it, so he swiftly dumped here and his lawyers warned here in no uncertain terms about speaking out about the relationship.  As Giggs applied for the injunction, the media was prevented from releasing his name but NOT Imogen Thomas' name.

As a result, her name was already out there for having an affair with a married man but she was being warned not to mention his name on contempt of court.  She was the one who wasn't married, she had been unceremoniously dumped, her name was being dragged through the mud mainly as a result of Giggs' court application as it wouldn't have been a huge story otherwise, she was being threatened by her former lover and yet he couldn't be named.  Understandably she was pissed off, and retaliated by engaging the services of Max Clifford.

I'm sure she'll make a few pound of this alright but I don't think it's right to paint her as the villain of the piece.

[who should he have turned to?]

Their "special" status is bullshit in my opinion, I'm sorry but to me they were thugs. I can pretend to think of these folk as freedom fighters if you like, but to me they were not. The guardians of peace and defence for me are the Irish Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána and the security services of the Irish Government.

I repeat:

The guardians of the peace for you were the gardai and the irish army? I assume thats why you disagree with the hunger strikers then? So when Francis Hughes was a normal young lad trying to have a normal life, was recieving regular beatings from the "police" when going to dances, who should he have turned to? The irish army? Are you seriously that thick?

EDIT:
How sad that this discussion is taking place on the 30th Anniversary of the deaths of two of the hunger strikers, Ray McCreesh & Patsy O'Hara, who both died after 61 days on the protest.
"My brother is not a criminal" (Fr Brian McCreesh)

Would there be a better day for the discussion or do you just not like anyone disagreeing with you?

I had De Gale 115-113, but glad he got beat!  Groves fought a very clever fight, he was much more impressive than when he beat that Scottish fella before Christmas which is the only other time I've seen him.

At any given time in the last 250 years the vast majority of Irish nationalists have favoured constitutional routes to changes in the relationship with Britain, with the possible exception of the few years after the Easter Rising executions up to the signing of the Treaty.

I think people have always had to balance whether armed insurrection was worth it in terms of blood that would be shed, and importantly whether there was any chance of success.  In 1916 even politically-minded nationalists wouldn't seriously have thought Ireland (or a part of it) would have been able to have independence in the next decade, and would rightly have thought what is the point in getting killed in another of the pantheon of historical failed uprisings.

Nail on the head Hardy.

1. Just because they are amateurs doesn't mean they are not performing at the highest level possible. The comparison with amateur opera singer (or band, or soccer team, or drama club for that matter) is that you are seeing an inferior product. That doesn't hold with county championship GAA. In this case the comparison with Katherine Jenkins and an amateur opera singer is like comparing the county championship with club GAA. That is a fair comparison and also there is a reflective price difference.

2. Just because players are not being paid doesn't mean the game comes cheap. For the match alone, there is the staffing, stewarding, the much-denied "Expenses!!!", the transportation, the kit, the facilities, the playing pitch, the policing, and a multitude of other costs to be accounted for. Just because players come wage free doesn't mean the match comes free. Secondly the championship profit goes back into other areas of the game such as hosting under-age competitions, developing grounds, training officials, supporting schools football, paying for games development coaches, advertising, and again a multitude of necessary uses of which the matches are the only (at least primary) source of funding.

Is there anyone complaining here about £13 to the terrace that actually has any involvement in the running of their club and therefore a real idea of just how expensive a business it is despite not having to pay players?

Nail on head.  I read in the Irish News recently that the vast majority of inter-county games are loss-making so the GAA has to maximise revenue from the Championship encounters.  £13 in to watch a minor and senior game is hardly breaking the bank for anyone either, you'd spend a lot more for 2 hours entertainment anywhere else or even sitting in a pub for 2 hours.

[like Smith did from the punishment handed out to him by the masterful MON.]

Best of luck to walter smith.
While imo he is not a great manager, he is head and shoulders above what Celtic have and have had since MON left.
With a rubbish rangers side (albeit abbetted by some scandalous reffing performances over the season that helped rangers considerably) he has taken them to the brink of a title again and I dont expect him to allow them to lose it.
This shows how much better he is than Lennon. However in Lennons case he is a rookie and may learn a lot - like Smith did from the punishment handed out to him by the masterful MON.Read one of alex fergusons biogs and Smith has always been on the fringes of management and it is good to see clubs give men like this their go. He has given rangers a hell of a lot.
Smith is no saint and indulges in the skulduggery of 'leaning ' on the refs via his press comments - but they all do that these days - spl are not nearly as bad as the epl managers !

I am delighted to see the back of Smith, as I severely doubt mccoist will be half as good, though maybe he will get a few quid to spend from the new owner. Best of luck Walter Smith, I hope you get the Scotland gig next, you deserve it.

The Rangers managers during MON's tenure were Advocaat and McLeish.

Was thinking the same Atticus when I saw on Ringside that the Groves v De Gale fight is PPV, what a f**king joke considering the level those boys are at right now.  I think they hope the fight will sell due to the supposed hatred between the 2 from their amateur days- fair enough a bit of drama/theatre can add to the build-up for a fight but this isn't the feckin WWE and most people recognise that it's bullshit anyway.

It's also very strange that the Cleverly fight is on the undercard given that it's for a world title!

Being an English fella just over in Ireland he might not have know meaures here are 35ml instead of 25ml, in which case he was drinking 40% more alcohol than he realised.

He's goin for the Spartan look, them boys didn't get called fairies or the like.

http://sexandhistory.blogspot.com/2008/06/sparta-experiment-in-state-fostered.html

Fermanagh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6McxQxouKQ

I would guess that Paddy is 30 or 31 as he was definitely starting for Derry in the 2000 Championship season.  This will be a big blow as he's been excellent this season.  He's a brilliant footballer, the best scoring forward in Ulster over the last decade and probably of all time in Derry terms so I hope he's able to come back from this.

As the fight edges closer I'm beginning to fear McCloskey could end up being embarassed with an early stoppage.  A lot of people are saying Dudey has nothing to lose but it would be a major disappointment if he's out of there in the first 4 rounds.  I can't see it going the distance but hopefully Dudey can hang in there until the latter stages of the fight.

What's the point in a queen?

Or Mary McAleese?

This is.

Didn't bother reading. Is there a bit about what would happen if there was no queen or Mary McAleese?

Read it and you'll see. It'd be a bit hard to have a state without a head of state.

I agree with Hardstation, they do not provide any sort of check or balance to the chambers and governments anyway and rightly so.  In USA the President is Head of State and Head of Government- there is no good reason the PM and Taoiseach couldn't straddle both roles surely.