Gerry Adams

[Sandy Hill]

Adams time has passed, he has little to contribute to the future. Quite apart from a lack of  policies generally, he doesn't even have any useful policies to advance the 32 county agenda at this stage. SF are largely concerned with doling out handouts, and there won't be much money available for that in the future.

Is there still one for many any more?

[mylestheslasher]

I think SF made a mistake putting in Adams as  their Dail leader. He has a tendancy to harp back to what he did in the peace process. McGuinness did too much of this too in the Presidential campaign. As crude as it sounds, that is yesterdays news to Southern voters. We need more items that are relevant to today. McGuinness exposing Sean Gallagher as a FF party fund raiser was good work and that's what will make SF gains in the south. Adams needs to give the reigns to someone else - O Caolain was the right man for the job but he was moved aside. Doherty is doing well too. Mary Lou is annoying big mouth in my opinion, I'd leave her where she is. Until this change is made I think SF will remain pretty static at 15% and maybe less as the FF sheep vote start to forget about their destruction of the country and begin voting for them again.

[Maguire01]

I never wanted him for the job - you did. I never thought he was appropriate - you did. And remember, you didn't just think he'd win; you knew he would!

he may not have won the battle...

He didn't even come close.

who was your choice? btw

My choice was Michael D, although I didn't have a vote. Understanding the role and limitations of the office and the behaviour expected of a president, he was the obvious choice.

[lawnseed]

I never wanted him for the job - you did. I never thought he was appropriate - you did. And remember, you didn't just think he'd win; you knew he would!

he may not have won the battle...

He didn't even come close.

who was your choice? btw

My choice was Michael D, although I didn't have a vote. Understanding the role and limitations of the office and the behaviour expected of a president, he was the obvious choice.

my original choice was also higgans before martin entered the race. but i'd hoped that he could have made the role more relevant and brought some of the 'fire' he exhibited as a younger politician. hes been very disappointing perhaps if labour were not tied into whats going on... ? emmm.. nah.. hes just too old to be bothered

[Maguire01]

I never wanted him for the job - you did. I never thought he was appropriate - you did. And remember, you didn't just think he'd win; you knew he would!

he may not have won the battle...

He didn't even come close.

who was your choice? btw

My choice was Michael D, although I didn't have a vote. Understanding the role and limitations of the office and the behaviour expected of a president, he was the obvious choice.

my original choice was also higgans before martin entered the race. but i'd hoped that he could have made the role more relevant and brought some of the 'fire' he exhibited as a younger politician. hes been very disappointing perhaps if labour were not tied into whats going on... ? emmm.. nah.. hes just too old to be bothered

Given your petty comments on Higgins, both during the campaign and since his election, I find it hard to believe you'd ever have considered him.

And it's very clear that you still don't appreciate the role of the President if you're looking for 'fire'.

[lawnseed]

I never wanted him for the job - you did. I never thought he was appropriate - you did. And remember, you didn't just think he'd win; you knew he would!

he may not have won the battle...

He didn't even come close.

who was your choice? btw

My choice was Michael D, although I didn't have a vote. Understanding the role and limitations of the office and the behaviour expected of a president, he was the obvious choice.

my original choice was also higgans before martin entered the race. but i'd hoped that he could have made the role more relevant and brought some of the 'fire' he exhibited as a younger politician. hes been very disappointing perhaps if labour were not tied into whats going on... ? emmm.. nah.. hes just too old to be bothered

Given your petty comments on Higgins, both during the campaign and since his election, I find it hard to believe you'd ever have considered him.

And it's very clear that you still don't appreciate the role of the President if you're looking for 'fire'.

i refer you to the comments i made earlier. this guy made his name as a radical politician hes visited countries all over the world where democracy was being ignored to support down trodden people and now hes lost his tongue

[Rossfan]

The President isn't allowed to have a tongue.
He can only say what the Govt of the day allow him to. It's only a ceremonial figurehead powerless role and is a total waste of public money.
It should be an honorary thing with a nominal salary of say €20k. plus a few € expenses.
As for Gerry Adams  --- time for him to let a new generation take over.

[Maguire01]

I never wanted him for the job - you did. I never thought he was appropriate - you did. And remember, you didn't just think he'd win; you knew he would!

he may not have won the battle...

He didn't even come close.

who was your choice? btw

My choice was Michael D, although I didn't have a vote. Understanding the role and limitations of the office and the behaviour expected of a president, he was the obvious choice.

my original choice was also higgans before martin entered the race. but i'd hoped that he could have made the role more relevant and brought some of the 'fire' he exhibited as a younger politician. hes been very disappointing perhaps if labour were not tied into whats going on... ? emmm.. nah.. hes just too old to be bothered

Given your petty comments on Higgins, both during the campaign and since his election, I find it hard to believe you'd ever have considered him.

And it's very clear that you still don't appreciate the role of the President if you're looking for 'fire'.

i refer you to the comments i made earlier. this guy made his name as a radical politician hes visited countries all over the world where democracy was being ignored to support down trodden people and now hes lost his tongue

Thank you, for proving my point.

[Maguire01]

The President isn't allowed to have a tongue.
He can only say what the Govt of the day allow him to. It's only a ceremonial figurehead powerless role and is a total waste of public money.
It should be an honorary thing with a nominal salary of say €20k. plus a few € expenses.

How would it work as an 'honorary thing'? And would it still be elected?

The vast majority of money spent on the presidency is not the salary, but the cost of running the office.

If someone was given a nominal salary of €20k, then I assume they'd need another source of income, as it wouldn't be a full-time role? How much would there be in expenses and what would the role deliver for those expenses?

[Rossfan]

Sure all they have to do is sign an odd bill from time to time and greet foreign Heads of State and Diplomats.
What do they need a big office and a free mansion for? Wouldn't 2 rooms in Dublin Castle suffice?
It could still be an elected position but every 5 years and as most Presidents were retired politicians they'd have enough income from their pension(s) .

[Evil Genius]

You are right about the fact that voters here in the republic are increasingly less concerned about the "Troubles" and SF's past associations with the IRA. Bread and butter issues dominate most people's daily agenda down here and I think Adams, McGuinness et al don't appear to appreciate the reality of this particular situation.
Adams has been in the Dail long enough to have made his name on the national scene but he has singularly failed to do this. O'Caolain, Mary Lou and Pearse Doherty in particular are the most prominent SF spokespersons on all matters relating to party policy. The Grizzled One has singularly failed to stamp his authority on proceedings and remains largely in the background.
I'm very surprised at this.
I had expected him to spearhead the party's attempts to establish itself as a leading force in the south but I think it's fair to say that Adams has done little to date to raise his own or his party's profile.

What you must remember is that, to put it at its kindest, Adams' skills and abilities etc are not best suited to the political arena. Or, to put it another way, he's not actually that bright*, tbh.
People in the ROI may have been alerted to that possibility when he first entered Southern politics and was exposed to rather more searching interviews than he was used to in NI (eg the Lisbon Treaty and the economy etc). But what they should note is that to get to even his present level of "fluency" [sic]  has required many years of coaching by the SF spin doctors.
Here is an earlier example of just how thick a fcuker inarticulate he can be when put under pressure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kiRZMbIR0c

Which, of course, prompts the question why he was so "successful" a politician when he was campaigning in Da Nort. To which the answer is that in NI generally, and in hardline areas especially, people do not vote on the basis of  what  you are, just on who you are.

And in the context of West Belfast, Gerry was one of "The Boys", just like all his family before him, on both sides. Which is the sole reason why he was able to bequeath his seat so easily to Paul Maskey - the clue is in the surname.

And no doubt when Maskey's time comes to an end, they will find another suitable candidate for the sheep electorate to return in his place. The fact that West Belfast will doubtless be no less a sh1thole when Maskey departs then when he arrived, will no more concern them than the fact that the same applied to Adams before him.

"People get the Politicians they deserve"...



* - Then again, you don't need to be Einstein to persuade people round to your way of thinking when you're shoving a gun in their face...

[Maguire01]

Sure all they have to do is sign an odd bill from time to time and greet foreign Heads of State and Diplomats.
What do they need a big office and a free mansion for? Wouldn't 2 rooms in Dublin Castle suffice?

They do more than that: http://www.president.ie/index.php?section=6

As for the 'big office' or 'mansion', the President hosts a lot of visitors - not just Heads of State and Diplomats - and needs to have somewhere appropriate to do this. I'd imagine a lot of the 'office costs' are travel, both around the country and further afield, and a number of staff, which will be incurred whether or not the President has two rooms in Dublin Castle, or the Aras.

I'm all for a reduction in the salary, but I don't think a 'Tesco Value' Presidency is the right way to go either.

[mylestheslasher]

EG - if Adams is not intelligent it doesn't say much for the unionist politicians he made idiots of on numerous panel shows. You know the ones where they were ripping of their mikes to storm out or staring angrily at the camera rather than engage in debate? With respect to most unionist politicians Adams is space age to the unionist neanderthal man.

[Evil Genius]

EG - if Adams is not intelligent it doesn't say much for the unionist politicians he made idiots of on numerous panel shows. You know the ones where they were ripping of their mikes to storm out or staring angrily at the camera rather than engage in debate? With respect to most unionist politicians Adams is space age to the unionist neanderthal man.

This thread is entitled "Gerry Adams".

Lar asked why he isn't making more of an impact since he moved South.

I suggested that it's because he's not actually that intelligent (in political terms, anyhow). I provided a video to demonstrate.

If the best you can come up with to defend Adams is a puerile, playground-style jibe about Unionists etc, then it would suggest that you are even less savvy than he is.

[Nally Stand]

I suggested that it's because he's not actually that intelligent

If the best you can come up with.... is a puerile, playground-style jibe....