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I thought Protestants were organised and would be well able to sort out regular buses to a stadium if a match was on. But are regular buses an Irish concept and thus unacceptable to Jim Allister ?

Not sure about Protestants being organised

Anytime I go to Ravenhill I get train in from where I live to bus/train station and there is a bus that brings you to Ravenhill and then back to bus/train station.

There's a park and ride from outside Belfast Met I think too. It works well.

I'm sure a solution can be found from Sprucefield etc

[Surely America can do better than put up a pervert and multiple charge sheet narcissist and an octogenarian who sadly has lost his way. I've zero intention ever to go near the place tbh...]

"I've said this before here, probably on this thread, but I've a cousin who lives in Florida and who is a mild Trumper. They came to NYC last year for Paddy's Day, but they were telling me that their friends were pleading with them not to go. The friends were genuinely terrified that my cousin wouldn't make it out of NYC alive, such was the barrage of nonsense circulating through the right wing media about the safety of NYC and other large "Democratic" cities. Never mind that crime rates are historically low, that NYC is among the safest large cities in the US, and that millions of New Yorkers go about their daily lives without incident. All lies and bullshit to those who consume right wing media and political discourse." Quote.



I've absolutely no skin in the game  think America is nuts tbh, and rotten to the core.  Both political parties controlled blackmailed or bought out by Israelis and its been that way for decades.

My daughter and son in law spent 5 days in NYC just a few weeks ago. They did all the major sights and attractions which were fine, but said that there was proper menace on every sidestreet, junkies popping out everywhere, looking like zombies. They felt like they were being followed and said it was a very unpleasant experience, because it was not an isolated thing, it was everywhere! And neither of them are shrinking violets!

Surely America can do better than put up a pervert and multiple charge sheet narcissist  and an octogenarian who sadly has lost his way. I've zero intention ever to go near the place tbh...

It is a damning indictment of the state of America at present that this is all they have to offer as the respective nominees from their parties.

The political process is owned by the plutocrats. Trump has more superpac money than Haley. Haley is coherent and Trump has dementia but Trump won because of the superpacs. they were introduced under OBAMA with Citizens Unlimited and are allowed unlimited money . so it's down to a handful of billionaires who control politics in the US. They want Israel and no taxes on wealth .

Haley controls between 25 and 30% of GOP votes. People who cannot stomach trump. The double haters.- they also hate Biden. In the Democratic party, 100'000 voted against Biden in the Michigan Primary. There is no representation for most people.

Michigan, which has a significant Muslim population, was a protest vote about Gaza. If that is still a live issue in the autumn, Biden is in huge trouble. Those Muslim and ultra-progressive voters won't vote for Trump, but they could stay home. The Democratic Party is a coalition of many different interests, all mainly united by their opposition to the christian nationalism of the GOP.

Trump would be doing the exact same thing in Gaza though.

The key will be the 2 VP nominees. It will be those 2 finishing out the term in the hot seat.

Is Harris a shoe in for the Dem VP or do Presidents often change VP nominees ahead of 2nd term?

Changing VP has happened occasionally in the past, but not recently. There is no chance Biden will drop Harris.

The talk at the time was she would take over half way through this current term because he was too old to finish the time out and here we are with the same candidates again. Both should be at home (or in a home) with their feet up ffs.

Watched plenty of All-Ireland finals back past 40yrs recently, you be lucky to get 1 in 4 of them, been a good game, 1 in 10 a outstanding game. Back then, half the lads back in the 80's, got the ball and just kicked it as far as they can. Now u watching  and going, what the hell they at, work it up the field

I agree there was some poor matches especially in the 80s. It got better in the 90s and into the 00s imho. The thing that existing in football back then that made it interesting is jeopardy. Forget about the David Clifford and Con show at the all ireland level, go to a junior or intermediate club match where the teams are trying to copy cat the senior teams and keep the ball - it's completely unwatchable.

[But for subjects like IT, industry is copping on and offering apprenticeships along with semi employment for a few years. 3/4 years at Uni for IT is not needed. That's why employers happily take people with any degree who did a 1yr conversion course for IT.]

I think the whole University thing is getting too expensive nowadays. And it's not really necessary for a lot of careers/vocations.

I get the need for it for some intense subjects like Medicine/Pharmacy where the student is also partnering  with hospitals and so on for training as they go along.

But for subjects like IT, industry is copping on and offering apprenticeships along with semi employment for a few years. 3/4 years at Uni for IT is not needed. That's why employers happily take people with any degree who did a 1yr conversion course for IT.

I get the arguments for Uni, life experience, fun, making new friends, keeping employment options open with degrees like Maths but it's a lot of debt for a young person to be burdened with for the first few decades of their working life.

This could not be farther from the truth. IT is such a broad definition and technology is constantly evolving; a degree shows some ability to learn independently and some computer science topics just are too much on the cutting edge for an apprenticeship. Plus some of these apprenticeships are taught by people that should have been roaded by the industry years ago. Also, IT conversion courses require an undergraduate degree and most people I've met that took that route come from STEM subjects.

The vast majority of apprenticeships are set up to produce cheap low skilled coders rather than quality resources with an understanding of the nuances of building modern platforms.

Apprenticeships are getting more common with construction type degrees too, surveyors and engineers. From the outside looking in, it seems a good way of doing things for some of those roles, you get paid while doing your degree over a few extra years.
I thought a mix of the 2 would be a good idea, 1st year in uni to get the life experience and get a background in what you'll be doing and then enter into a apprenticeship for the remaining modules.

I see just when Rasmus Hojlund has found the goal scoring form he's ruled out with a muscle injury for the next 4 or 5 games. While a blow to United it's a boost to Villa and Spurs ahead of them.

Disaster. Clubs medical department needs overhauled.

It has to be completely gutted. Look at the players with constant long term injuries they have had over the last 10 years. Jones, Shaw, Martial and now Mount, Martinez and Malecia can't get fit at all.

[Dark ages stuff here.]

People who want the Ulster final to remain in Clones need their heads examined.

Town = dump
Ground = dump
Roads = crap

No matter what happens casement, there shouldn't ever be a final in Clones again. What a complete kip of a place.

Dark ages stuff here. Imagine not wanting a top class stadium in the country's second biggest city. Corrigan is there for the smaller games and crowds. Though I'm sure an agreement can be made to hold the county finals there in a 90% empty stadium like it always did in the past.

People are simpletons.

But it was great craic in the 90s...

I honestly couldn't believe how bad it was when I went last year having not been there for a few years. Taking kids to places makes you look at everything differently too. Casement was better before it was closed down ffs - at least the pathways are bitmac/concrete

[Top 4 or 5 chances]

Top 4 or 5 chances will be much harder task if Martinez is ruled out for the rest of season. Totally different team with him in the side and no like for like replacement.

Hojlund 21 (yesterday) Garnacho 19 and Mainoo 18 are three young players to build the team around in the years ahead.

The game at Villa park could be quite important

A win there would give momentum for the first time in ages.

Reports there now on twitter saying he's out for 6-8 weeks. Not as bad as some thought but still a massive blow

Even should you have an outrageously large 70 litre tank on your car, and manage to arrive in a Go station just as you're about to run out, and do so as a matter of a normal commute rather than going out of your way, then your total savings would be, wait for it, wait for it... £14.

Part of me would support a cull of anyone queuing for this offer. You know, for the long term betterment of the human race and all that.

Yeah I overestimated the £20. I filled mine this morning at 1.39 and we worked out I would've saved 10.50 last night at GO. And the man in the garage was asking what GO put it up to this morning so they obviously use their price as guide of where to aim for. I'll be paying 1.49 next week then

GO have a 12hr sale. 7pm this eve til 7am tomorrow

Diesel £1.19
Petrol £1.12

I was lifting the daughter from Lisburn and they were queued onto the carriageway at the one on the A1 and they were out to the roundabout at the Boulevard. I'll just go to the local garage tomorrow. Not queuing an hour to save 20 quid

[Xabi Alonso the clear favourite to be his replacement.]

The timing is right, he leaves the club in rude health playing wise and I wouldn't bet against them winning the PL.

He'll not get involved in coaching for at least a year and then a big club like Real Madrid will be his next stop.

Not so sure if the timing right, I know it was said in the statement he told the club he was leaving in November but is that news that needs to be made public during a title race?

Xabi Alonso the clear favourite to be his replacement.

Is that a massive risk? Doing it with the expectations of Liverpool is a big difference to what he's doing now. He does seem to have something about him to be fair.

The timing is right, he leaves the club in rude health playing wise and I wouldn't bet against them winning the PL.

He'll not get involved in coaching for at least a year and then a big club like Real Madrid will be his next stop.

I wonder is the timing of the announcement right though. It went to shit for Utd when Fergie announced his retirement early, to the point that he changed his mind and stayed on.

I think there's a good chance he'll not go back into club management.

I don't understand the big issue with having to use your card to pay for something if you have used your card to withdraw cash before that. If you're getting paid in cash fair enough but the majority of people aren't paid in cash. I have no issue with a company saying they only take cash but it can be annoying if they don't make it known beforehand.

I don't get any cash from the work I do and I can't be arsed carrying cash about to end up with change that you don't use anymore.

I am glad that tapping your card in a bar/night club wasn't a thing when I was younger - that could wipe you out for the week on a Friday night.

Lots of kids from non hurling clubs play with their schools so I think if the option was there kids would go and parents would take them.

One thing I disagree on is that clubs aren't against hurling (or any other sport). I've been involved with football and hurling for a few years at underage. Everyone wants players that play nothing else so you can give a full commitment to their wee team. I've heard lads boast their lad isn't even allowed to watch soccer on the TV like that's a good thing. Let them play as many sports as possible.

There was hurling days (2 Saturdays a month) to be set aside for underage tournaments, no football blitzes allowed. We had to fight for every one of the Saturdays during August and September and most of the days football won out. Nobody wants to give an inch.

The hurling summer schemes in non footballing clubs would be a great idea. Ballela always did hurling only cul camps and you got a lot of neighbouring clubs coming out to it and they would get an odd one staying on. They would of got quite a few girls from Dromore hockey club coming out to train during the summer too.

Any of you men here owned a mid 10s BWM 420/430D? And is it actually true cars are cheaper in England?

I have a 2017 420d xdrive, the 5 door one (grand coupe). I haven't had any issues so far apart from the constant call backs because of the EGR problems. They finally replaced the whole unit just before Christmas though. I like it, handles really well and it's nice to drive.
I have a mate who has the 3 door 430d which is 2014 and he had a massive issue with it last year, 2 grand problem. Can't remember the actual problem though and it was high mileage. He stills loves it though.

Are the EGR problems related to the type of driving ie town driving v motorway driving? I know town driving is not ideal for diesel engines.

My Mrs has a 2019 118d and EML starting coming on just as 12 month warranty ran out (classic woman completely ignored it and just drove on anyway). She only commutes about 12-14 miles each day and presuming the previous female owner was doing the same as the mileage wasn't high when she bought it.

Maybe get it mapped and the EGR bypassed?

With me working from home a lot more now I've started getting bother from the EGR due to short runs to and from schools etc and no long commutes so time to get it mapped out, hopefully soon.

Thing goes like an absolute pig every once in a while with the engine management light on and off all the time.

Did you think of changing for a petrol JC? I don't mean 'go and change it' just curious are people starting to head away from diesels.
I do a few longer trips than the wife so I kept the diesel but we went for a petrol for her. That's the first petrol either of us have owned since my 1st car in 2001.