Are the upper echelons of Irish Society Royalists at Heart?

[muppet]

I'm with O'Neill.

A National Identity cannot be defined by one viewpoint or that in itself would be suppression.

If you jump into the future and stand at the end of the United Ireland road, looking backwards, there are events you will see that had to happen to complete the road. Some of these events will not have been palatable and some may have happened out of sequence. But they will all need to have happened to reach, not simply a United Ireland, but ideally one that the Unionists and Britain can accept. Aiming short of that and simply suiting ourselves, would be making the same mistake the Brits made.

I found the over the top fawning hard to stomach but I am rationalising it, not as a new found Irish royalism, but as another sign that people do not want a return to the hatred and the fighting.

[Maguire01]

FFS how many people could be employed with €30 million etc.

Just on the €30m, there's no doubt that valid arguments can be made that it could have been better spent elsewhere. But it's not as if €30m was 'lost' to the Irish economy, is it?

I'm guessing a significant amount of money was spent on Garda overtime. Take 20% (or whatever the income tax rate would be) that would be heading straight back into the coffers. Then how much of the other 80% is spent in the local economy?

Similarly with any money spent on other contractors - they'll have paid staff. They'll pay corporation tax etc etc etc...

So again, whilst there might have been better ways to spend it, am I not right in thinking that it's not quite 'flushed down the toilet'?

[SLIGONIAN]

This thread has restored my faith in Irish humanity, so many great posts that say whats been on my mind all week in a much better way than i could ever wish to express it.

[highorlow]

Now Vincent Brown is off on an anti American rant. Empty rhetoric stuff he just said..... what a flaming c unt ...

[ross matt]

Now Vincent Brown is off on an anti American rant. Empty rhetoric stuff he just said..... what a flaming c **t ...

Exactly Highorlow!
Sitting there with sour puss on him because none of the panel agreed with him that Obama's speech had a "coded meaning" about unwillingness to help Ireland. Full of praise for the Queen a few days ago by contrast.

[Hardy]

Now Vincent Brown is off on an anti American rant. Empty rhetoric stuff he just said..... what a flaming c **t ...

Exactly Highorlow!
Sitting there with sour puss on him because none of the panel agreed with him that Obama's speech had a "coded meaning" about unwillingness to help Ireland. Full of praise for the Queen a few days ago by contrast.

This is how much the US wants to help Ireland:
(from http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0507/1224296372123.html)

The IMF, which believes that lenders should pay for their stupidity before it has to reach into its pocket, presented the Irish with a plan to haircut €30 billion of unguaranteed bonds by two-thirds on average. Lenihan was overjoyed, according to a source who was there, telling the IMF team: "You are Ireland's salvation."

The deal was torpedoed from an unexpected direction. At a conference call with the G7 finance ministers, the haircut was vetoed by US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner who, as his payment of $13 billion from government-owned AIG to Goldman Sachs showed, believes that bankers take priority over taxpayers. The only one to speak up for the Irish was UK chancellor George Osborne, but Geithner, as always, got his way.

[fearglasmor]

I shared a room with my grandfather until he died at 85 and when I was 12. He had seen active service with the IRA in the 20's Never heard him speak of it but my mother did a little. She had a very strong republican leaning obviously with that background. I never heard her give out so much as after coming home from a pilgrimage to lough derg at the impudence of the spotty english soldiers who stopped and boarded the pilgrimage bus pulling out bags as they went up and down the bus. But at the same time she always had a fascination for the british royal family. It was just a human reaction to the pomp and glamour attached to the royals. The point is, its nothing to do with "upper echelons" its just human reaction regardless of class.  After all it wasnt upper echelons who threw vegetables and fruit at the "heroes" of 1916.