Messages

Firstly SF and SDLP need to say how they see the future All Ireland State.
Then  the Nationalist/Catholic demographic becomes the bigger and as the votes for the Nationalist Parties outnumber those of the Unionist parties.
As the clamour for a  "Border Poll" grows it will be time for another "New Ireland Forum" to discuss and reach some kind of concensus on the shape of a new All Ireland State.
Then have the Poll.

The vision for a New Ireland has to come from the sitting government in the Dail.
Anything else would be just fluff

[https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/dublin-defender-peter-kelly-announces-retirement-1.3470115]

Pete Kelly hanging up the intercounty boots;

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/dublin-defender-peter-kelly-announces-retirement-1.3470115

Evidently can't get himself back in peak form and fitness, was some player and gave Seamus Callinan as good as working as any the day the Dubs played Tipp in a qualifier game in Thurles when all else around him was taking in water.

[Barca beat this crowd 4-1]

Barca beat this crowd 4-1, and didnt show up the next day... Liverpool can win this game at least 3-0

Liverpool are 4/9.. the bookies would give those odds to a team like Burnley playing at Anfield

True, but IIRC one, maybe two were either OG's or bad deflections.

Yes Roma were under serious pressure, but they know how to defend and Dzeko will need some watching at the other end.

2-0 tonight and I still think the game is in the mix going back to Rome.

Verne Troyer aka mini me.

Never heard that TBH.

Suicide isn't being ruled out it seems!

a win is a win I suppose but by god that was painful watching. Dont think I can take much more of big sam, never wanted a season to be over as much.

Turgid stuff.

big Sam will then attempt to polish a turd and claim it as a masterclass of his wonderful tactics.

In the meantime the fans are bored to pish.

Go, Big Samuel, please go into the night.

These coaches should be sent out to develop coaches in other clubs to improve club coaching especially in the weaker clubs. There are too much emphasis on dev squads and improved coaching is needed in a good few schools.

That depends on whether the coaches looking after the "ETS" squads are any better than they're getting at home!

Mickey Harte is completely out of order here.

I don't care how many all Irelands he was won, he has no right to present his merry band as in any way representative of the GAA.

And why all the GAA gear on?
Surely if you're projecting your own personal views then there's no need for the GAA gear on.

I'm sure they've other attire in their wardrobe.

[If im only doing short journey]

Thanks everyone. It isnt happening every time but then im mostly doing short journeys. Few miles here and there. Have never had a burning smell from it, no smell at all.

Came up on the dash saying it needs serviced. Seems to have been serviced about 12000 miles ago so im going to book it in somewhere within the next few weeks.

If im only doing short journeys how often should i be doing a 70 mph run down the motorway?

Don't buy a diesel if you're only doing short journeys.

A work colleague had wile bother with a Ford Galaxy he had bought for his annual trip to the South of France but his normal commute was only 3 or 4 miles to work and the same back. The DPF was clogging up all the time and Ford up in Mallusk more or less told him what GJL has suggested and recommended to him not to buy another diesel for the work commute.

[Oh to see a fresh and magnanimous leader of unionism emerge , that actually see further than the next 10years]

Arlene is a bizarre character and a bizarre choice as unionist leader.
Her background has shaped her , and as she has been a victim, she at least deserves empathy and respect for her right to articulate her point of view.
Victims usually fall into 3 categories:
1. The Alan McBride type , who are the true heroes of the conflict and an inspiration to us all, determined to make sure they offer their loss to the benefit of all.
2. Those that cope in silence and remain under the radar as they try to cope with their loss , and get on with their lives( many struggle)
3. Those who remain bitter and resentful ( and we can all understand that) and can't get past their loss, and probably feel a sense of responsibility not to let down those that have passed or were injured.

Arlene clearly falls into the 3rd category. Those entrenched in that bitterness, on both sides , are the biggest barrier to progress. Though I have complete empathy for their position, I feel they need to be respected but ultimately sidelined, so that we can rebuild a society which would be the ultimate legacy to all who have suffered and/or died.

Arlene's upbringing , including the suffering of herself and family and friends. Appears to have left her very bitter, and she makes minimal attempts to hide that. She was dwarfed in the presence of Martin McGuinness in terms of reconciliation and respect.
I think we can over analyse her , but the mask well and truly slipped , when Kielty probed her thoughts for the future. The so-called "leader of unionism" would be on the first boat out of here, once unionism loses its majority. So in the other words , she shows complete disregard and disdain for the vast majority of those who have paid her wages and brought her to the ultimate office , as she waves them goodbye to move to a Britain , where ironically she'd be like a fish out of water.
These sentiments betray an over-riding anti-Irishness from her. We all know she appears to have absolutely no rapport with more than  50% of the whole community , but it's incredible that she also has no respect or care for her own community, and future generations of those here that perceive themselves British .
Incidentally, if and when she goes back to her day job as a solicitor, she'll struggle with credibility , as she comes across as someone for whom truth economy and reality denial is second nature.

Oh to see a fresh and magnanimous leader of unionism emerge , that actually see further than the next 10years . Unfortunately, I don't think cultural unionism
Lends itself to such an approach.
I think the only solution short-medium term, is a consensus around equality and respect , with the national constitutional question becoming a side issue, and eventually sorting itself out.
That respect majority needs to expose and confront anyone who challenges normal civilised behaviour, eg orangeism, cultural bullying etc

Is there no one in senior leadership in DUP that could take a step back and say this is making us look really bad and foolish - Arlene maybe its time to take early retirement?? It has to be doing the party serious harm

Religious fundamentalists of any creed are never wrong.

Unionism has never accepting the part it played in causing the troubles here and until it does they'll never be at peace with themselves let alone their nationalist neighbours.

Any time a Unionist politician is faced with this issue they dress it up as Sinn Féin/ IRA trying to rewrite history.

Is it a town to spend a day or two, or to live in??

Dromod, Leitrim is a lovely little village, beside the Shannon

Anyone ever hire a cruiser to do the Lough Erne, Shannon run?

I'd love to do it some time, but the kids are too young ATM.

MY GOD

How can anyone defend her - not matter how blinkered a religious, political, DUP view you have. And bare in mind this is a tame inquiry not really being too aggressive in questioning and still its damning!

This should be used as a key case study for why it is better to resign when you are responsible for something of such magnitude rather than go to an inquiry.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

[Whilst they topped their league its not really a true reflection.]

I think the management team might have been made aware prior to the first game, but perhaps decided to go ahead anyway.  Maybe go caught up in the possibility of "bright lights of success" and the chance to win. 

The whole concept behind the Celtic Challenge is to give all players - particularly on the fringes of minor squads the opportunity to compete at inter county level.  With the 2 year gap between the then U16 and U18 (minor) competitions a significant amount of players were getting lost.  However, with minor now at U17 this has changed the situation.

I was giving the lad the benefit of the doubt, but you could be right as some of the coaches involved would have know right enough. Whether that feel on deaf ears is another story.
I don't know the lad in question personally.

When Down played Antrim in the Celtic Challenge at Easter time they played most, if not all, of their U17 panel.  It was mentioned previously that they are a County that was not supposed to be doing that.  I would say that the Antrim team got more out of the match playing against a side that were physically stronger and older than them. Lessons gained, hopefully. I just cant understand Down's reasoning behind this.  Whilst they topped their league its not really a true reflection.

I'd agree with that and hence I smelled a rat.

TBH I don't think Down would have enough hurlers to put out an U17 team and an U16 team on the same day and if they did it would be a very young U16 team and will get walloped right left and centre down in Abbotstown especially if using the gradings to date!

I don't think reasoning comes into it with some lads and my little bit of research on the management for the current U17's suggests as much!

Down Coaching and Development are very quiet on this one.

[the main roads in Fermanagh are in a desperate state.]

My sister in law wish boned her suspension a couple of weeks ago on an horrendous pot hole in Bangor. It was late and night and poorly lit. Thankfully she wasn't doing any speed. Don't think I've ever seen the roads as bad

I suppose it's cold comfort to know that it's just not Tyrone and Fermanagh where the roads are in a poor condition.  You may be able to undserstand minor roads being bad but the main roads in Fermanagh are in a desperate state.

Cow shite will wreck a tar road in no time.   

At the end of May 2013, the UK government's energy minister Greg Barker wrote to Mrs Foster in which he explained that his department was making major cost control changes to the Great Britain RHI scheme.  The letter was referred to the DETI officials who were dealing with Northern Ireland's RHI initiative.  They said it was "similar" to an earlier letter from Mr Barker and no action was therefore needed.  But that wasn't true - the earlier letter had referred to completely different matters - and the chance to tell Mrs Foster about the cost control changes wasn't taken.  Dr Crawford says neither he nor Mrs Foster received the letter but "the minister should've seen all the correspondence coming from a Westminster department".

Foster may dodge a bullet on corruption but it's clear she didn't have the first notion about what RHI was, how it operated, how much it cost, who was running it and as important neither did her closest SPAD.  Why would all that be important when you're obsessed with making sure that street names in Irish don't appear and that gay people can't get married.

I think she knew only too well but Sam McBride believes there was a culture of sure Whitehall is picking up the tab, no need to worry and feather our friends nest.

The shit only hit the fan when it became apparent that wasn't the case and it was out of the local pot!

She'll get away Scot free on this one, but her competence is seriously under scrutiny not that that will matter to the voting base in Fermanagh or beyond.

It was crazy how dominant he was in such a competitive sport hence why in my opinion he is the greatest sportsman ever

Period.     

https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/05/tiger-woods-article-full-201005