Race for the ARAS 2025

[Snapchap]

There is nitpicking and then there is this

Nonsense. If one of them was to say "Northern Ireland" rather than "the north of Ireland" or "the six counties" half the lads on this board would be freaking out. Language matters.

To qoute yourself: "Nonsense".

A quick google throws up examples of each of the three candidates saying "Northern Ireland" in just the past week. Care to quote some of the posts from "half the lads on this board" who have been no doubt been "freaking out" about it?

[Milltown Row2]

Would the normal election threads have as many posts?

This is some amount of posts for a purely non entity position

[Pub Bore]

You just know that we're a day or two away from "Connolly supports the 'RA"

[Rossfan]

Would the normal election threads have as many posts?

This is some amount of posts for a purely non entity position

And one for which a lot of the posters can't, unfortunately, vote in.

[Fogarty]

Would the normal election threads have as many posts?

This is some amount of posts for a purely non entity position

A lot of interest in an election that has 3 terrible candidates.
Bertie, McGregor and Steen running would have been far better.

[gallsman]

There is nitpicking and then there is this

Nonsense. If one of them was to say "Northern Ireland" rather than "the north of Ireland" or "the six counties" half the lads on this board would be freaking out. Language matters.

To qoute yourself: "Nonsense".

A quick google throws up examples of each of the three candidates saying "Northern Ireland" in just the past week. Care to quote some of the posts from "half the lads on this board" who have been no doubt been "freaking out" about it?

Do you want me to get you the OED definition of hyperbole? Or would you object because it has the word "English " in the title?

Grow up you absolute bore.

[Snapchap]

There is nitpicking and then there is this

Nonsense. If one of them was to say "Northern Ireland" rather than "the north of Ireland" or "the six counties" half the lads on this board would be freaking out. Language matters.

To qoute yourself: "Nonsense".

A quick google throws up examples of each of the three candidates saying "Northern Ireland" in just the past week. Care to quote some of the posts from "half the lads on this board" who have been no doubt been "freaking out" about it?

Do you want be to get you the OED definition of hyperbole? Or would you object because it has the word "English " in the title.

Grow up you absolute bore.

Jeez. A page back, you were suggesting an article was too long for someone other than yourself to read, and now you're offering to define the phrases you use for me. Aren't we blessed to have someone with such breathtaking arrogance intelligence among us?

Oh don't worry, I do understand hyperbole. So while I undertand the hyperbole of "half the lads" and "freaking out", the central point you were making was that there would be numerous objections to the terms the candidates would use to refer to the north. It's quite clear there hasn't been any.

Your second, and wider point was that her use of language ("the Ukraine") is a matter of significance, yet not only has it not been an election issue, but in reality, outside of this board, who has even noticed?

[Armagh18]

There is nitpicking and then there is this

Nonsense. If one of them was to say "Northern Ireland" rather than "the north of Ireland" or "the six counties" half the lads on this board would be freaking out. Language matters.

To qoute yourself: "Nonsense".

A quick google throws up examples of each of the three candidates saying "Northern Ireland" in just the past week. Care to quote some of the posts from "half the lads on this board" who have been no doubt been "freaking out" about it?

In fairness "Northern Ireland" would annoy me coming from any of the 3 candidates. Not sure I'd freak out now but I don't like it.

[gallsman]

Jeez. A page back, you were suggesting an article was too long for someone other than yourself to read, and now you're offering to define the phrases you use for me. Aren't we blessed to have someone with such breathtaking arrogance intelligence among us?

Oh don't worry, I do understand hyperbole. So while I undertand the hyperbole of "half the lads" and "freaking out", the central point you were making was that there would be numerous objections to the terms the candidates would use to refer to the north. It's quite clear there hasn't been any.

Your second, and wider point was that her use of language ("the Ukraine") is a matter of significance, yet not only has it not been an election issue, but in reality, outside of this board, who has even noticed?

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. The central point I was making was, shockingly, that language, or choice of language matters. I'd have thought that was pretty clear given I specifically finished my post with "language matters".

[Snapchap]

Jeez. A page back, you were suggesting an article was too long for someone other than yourself to read, and now you're offering to define the phrases you use for me. Aren't we blessed to have someone with such breathtaking arrogance intelligence among us?

Oh don't worry, I do understand hyperbole. So while I undertand the hyperbole of "half the lads" and "freaking out", the central point you were making was that there would be numerous objections to the terms the candidates would use to refer to the north. It's quite clear there hasn't been any.

Your second, and wider point was that her use of language ("the Ukraine") is a matter of significance, yet not only has it not been an election issue, but in reality, outside of this board, who has even noticed?

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. The central point I was making was, shockingly, that language, or choice of language matters. I'd have thought that was pretty clear given I specifically finished my post with "language matters".

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
Perhaps you missed the part of my post where I said that this was your wider point:

Your second, and wider point was that her use of language ("the Ukraine") is a matter of significance

Don't worry. Maybe the post was a bit too long for you 

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/10/02/there-is-naivety-in-ireland-over-russian-threat-says-taoiseach/

There was a "very serious sense" of the Russian threat when EU leaders sat down together on Wednesday, Mr Martin said. "It seems to me that there's a degree of naivety back in Ireland in respect of that," he said.

This can be seen when one considers "everything that's happened over the last number of weeks and months, in terms of drone incursions, in terms of maritime activity among cables".

"Certainly the member states on the eastern European side, the Baltic States in particular, feel this threat and feel it's existential," he said.

[Aaron Boone]

Jim Gavin obviously needs to up his game and he needs to start on Sunday for the next Presidential debate.

Having seen Jim's work in the North East Inner City task force, I think he can raise his game in the campaign from here on in.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025/10/01/michael-gallagher-the-process-that-left-us-with-only-three-candidates-for-president-needs-an-overhaul/

The requirements for the council route, though, are less satisfactory, because they undoubtedly empower some political actors to prevent others from becoming candidates. Because the Constitution specifies that a candidate requires nomination by four city or county councils, a candidate with significant support among councillors could be thwarted if his or her supporters do not amount to a majority in at least four councils. In the extreme case, a candidate backed by 49 per cent of the members of every council in the country might not secure any nominations if on each council the other 51 per cent of councillors voted not to nominate anyone in order to enhance the prospects of the candidate they support.

That's not a principle that would be seen as acceptable for standing as a candidate at Dáil elections. At present, anyone who can muster the signatures of 30 electors in a constituency earns a place on a Dáil ballot paper; there is no possibility of any other actor being able to stymie their path to a candidacy. The idea that a local majority, such as a group of one's neighbours, could deprive a minority of the right to run a candidate would be regarded as an outlandish suggestion and decidedly anti-democratic. By the same standards, the current provisions requiring nomination by councils rather than by councillors are dubious from a democratic standpoint.

[ Maria Steen complains she was shut out of presidential race after nominations shortfallOpens in new window ]

A fairer approach would be to require a candidate to get the backing of a certain number of councillors rather than of councils. Given the changing number of councillors over time, this would be better expressed as a percentage rather than a number – one that would give any candidate with a reasonably broad base of support a chance of getting on to the ballot paper. The bar might be set at, say, 5 per cent of city and county councillors – which under the present local government configuration of 949 councillors would mean that the backing of 48 councillors would be needed. It could be further refined so that these councillors would need to come from at least, say, eight different councils, to avoid the risk of local champions with little support outside their home turf getting on to the ticket.

[armaghniac]

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025/10/01/michael-gallagher-the-process-that-left-us-with-only-three-candidates-for-president-needs-an-overhaul/

The requirements for the council route, though, are less satisfactory, because they undoubtedly empower some political actors to prevent others from becoming candidates. Because the Constitution specifies that a candidate requires nomination by four city or county councils, a candidate with significant support among councillors could be thwarted if his or her supporters do not amount to a majority in at least four councils. In the extreme case, a candidate backed by 49 per cent of the members of every council in the country might not secure any nominations if on each council the other 51 per cent of councillors voted not to nominate anyone in order to enhance the prospects of the candidate they support.

That's not a principle that would be seen as acceptable for standing as a candidate at Dáil elections. At present, anyone who can muster the signatures of 30 electors in a constituency earns a place on a Dáil ballot paper; there is no possibility of any other actor being able to stymie their path to a candidacy. The idea that a local majority, such as a group of one's neighbours, could deprive a minority of the right to run a candidate would be regarded as an outlandish suggestion and decidedly anti-democratic. By the same standards, the current provisions requiring nomination by councils rather than by councillors are dubious from a democratic standpoint.

[ Maria Steen complains she was shut out of presidential race after nominations shortfallOpens in new window ]

A fairer approach would be to require a candidate to get the backing of a certain number of councillors rather than of councils. Given the changing number of councillors over time, this would be better expressed as a percentage rather than a number – one that would give any candidate with a reasonably broad base of support a chance of getting on to the ballot paper. The bar might be set at, say, 5 per cent of city and county councillors – which under the present local government configuration of 949 councillors would mean that the backing of 48 councillors would be needed. It could be further refined so that these councillors would need to come from at least, say, eight different councils, to avoid the risk of local champions with little support outside their home turf getting on to the ticket.

This makes a lot of sense. A certain number of the Oireachtas or a certain number of councillors. The other mechanism might be a large number of the electorate, as some countries have.

[Banks of the Bann]

There is nitpicking and then there is this

Nonsense. If one of them was to say "Northern Ireland" rather than "the north of Ireland" or "the six counties" half the lads on this board would be freaking out. Language matters.

To qoute yourself: "Nonsense".

A quick google throws up examples of each of the three candidates saying "Northern Ireland" in just the past week. Care to quote some of the posts from "half the lads on this board" who have been no doubt been "freaking out" about it?

Do you want be to get you the OED definition of hyperbole? Or would you object because it has the word "English " in the title.

Grow up you absolute bore.

Jeez. A page back, you were suggesting an article was too long for someone other than yourself to read, and now you're offering to define the phrases you use for me. Aren't we blessed to have someone with such breathtaking arrogance intelligence among us?

Oh don't worry, I do understand hyperbole. So while I undertand the hyperbole of "half the lads" and "freaking out", the central point you were making was that there would be numerous objections to the terms the candidates would use to refer to the north. It's quite clear there hasn't been any.

Your second, and wider point was that her use of language ("the Ukraine") is a matter of significance, yet not only has it not been an election issue, but in reality, outside of this board, who has even noticed?

It is a matter of significance and if she is elected you can be sure it will become an issue if she starts prattling about 'the Ukraine' on the international stage.

A presidential candidate, who uses a term for a European country that is offensive to the people of that country. A country that also happens to be in an existential war against the brutal imperial power next door. She needs to cop on.

Total ignoramus.