The Race for the ARAS.....

[liihb]

I for one and I've had a similar conversation with the majority of my mates, both at home and at work, would vote for anyone other than McGuinness. How you can be president of a state that theoretically you don't recognise is beyond me. Also, his party as they portray themselves in the the south, are marxist, are completely out of touch with fiscal reality.

Take his past into account and there's not a nail, but about a factory full of them into the coffin of me voting for him. Sinn Fein in the South does not mean the same thing as Sinn Fein in the North from any perspective.

[highorlow]

Can we limit it to those who actually have a vote..........

*runs for cover*

Ah very good.

[thebigfella]

Can we limit it to those who actually have a vote..........

*runs for cover*

Ah very good.

In fairness though, is wee Marty even entitled to vote?

[deiseach]

In fairness though, is wee Marty even entitled to vote?

Probably not. But that's a red herring. I'm not eligible to become President. Does that mean I shouldn't be allowed vote on who should be President?

[Shamrock Shore]

I'm not eligible to become President

Why not Deiseach?

Are you under 35?

[Donnellys Hollow]

I'm convinced Michael D will win this election fairly handily. He will clean up in rural Ireland and looks to me to be the most transfer friendly candidate. Mitchell will hardly poll a vote outside the M50 and similar comments would apply to Norris, albeit to a lesser extent. I do think McGuinness has the potential to poll well, particularly if he tones down the 'West Brit' talk, but he simply won't attract enough transfers.

Michael D is best priced 11/10 with Ladbrokes at the moment having been odds on a few weeks ago. I'm having a few bob on anyway.

[Canalman]

The Presidency is a c95% ceremonial role, with no powers of note............. save referring a bill I think to the Supreme Court. Basically, alot of airport greeting/ guard of honour inspecting and photo opping. There will be some tosh written in the next few weeks about the gig that will not be true.

However, I do think that a McGuinness presidency would  be "interesting". It WILL gain international attention and any of his state visits abroad will imo be covered extensively by that nation's media........... ie on the main tv bulletins.
Anything Mc Guinness says in speeches  etc I am almost sure will be written for him by the government.
Personally think that he will do very well and will be there or there abouts at the end. May be the  chief garnerer of votes from the rightly p.....ed off people in the country, not to mention the FF hardcore.

A 3 way fight imo between Mitchell, Higgins and McG.

Higgins imo to win.

Great thing about these elections is that they are by their very nature highly personal......... no hiding behind a party banner.

[AQMP]

why do the media love norris
for me he would be an appalling president, he has no depth
a guy ho loves himself, its cringeworthy to watch him

wee michael d higgins is the man for me , he reminds me of darby o gill or michaelin( quiet man)

Has to be the Connachtman for me. Too long the people of Ireland's fairest and most oppressed and done by Province cower in the shade of the bullyboys of the East of the Shannon Provinces. With Enda, Eamonn and Micky D. Is féidir linn.

Shurely Michael D is a Munsterman??   According to Wicklowpedia, born in Limerick, raised in Clare and is an old boy of St Flannan's, Ennis.  Unless there two of them

[Maguire01]

I found this quite amusing...

Dana is all kinds of everything to Ulster Protestants in Áras race

NEWTON EMERSON

NEWTON'S OPTIC: WHO WOULD Ulster Protestants vote for in the presidential election, if we had a vote and were forced at gunpoint to use it? The answer is certainly Dana, for the following excellent reasons:

1 Dana and Martin McGuinness were born within a year of each other and grew up in the same working-class housing estate in Derry, yet Dana did not join the IRA. This proves there was never any social, political or historical inevitability about Martin McGuinness joining the IRA.

2 Dana has murdered several songs, but always on the record.

3 Dana was actually born in London, so a brief biography of her childhood can get the words "London" and "Derry" quite close together, as in "London-born Derry singer Dana". Technically, this also makes her even more British than Mary McAleese.

4 Dana is a proper Catholic. Proper Protestants respect this. It's lapsed Catholics we don't trust.

5 Dana's husband was involved in the Catholic Church's charismatic renewal movement in the 1970s, making him one accident of birth away from being a proper Protestant himself.

6 After her marriage, Dana set up home in Rostrevor, about as far away from Derry as it is possible to get while remaining in Northern Ireland. Any Protestant will find this understandable. By a remarkable coincidence, Mary McAleese also set up home in Rostrevor, but somehow she made it look a bit showy.

7 Dana has had a very successful career as a US-based Christian recording artist, connecting her to a hugely important Ulster Protestant subculture that everyone else finds a bit mental.

8 Dana has performed in three Royal Variety Shows, beginning in 1988, a full decade before Mary McAleese first met Queen Elizabeth. In 1995, in the space of a week, she performed separately for Pope John Paul II, president Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth. Admittedly, she has not performed for Nelson Mandela, but neither has she compared herself to Nelson Mandela. That would be nauseating.

9 Dana has never endorsed, nor been endorsed by, the UDA.

10 Dana appeared in the Best of British Variety Tour 2010 alongside Paul Daniels, The Krankies, The Grumbleweeds, Syd Little and Christopher Biggins. As an exercise in cultural outreach, this was more courageous and personally difficult than any number of meetings with the UDA.

11 Dana is a Eurovision winner who became an anti-European politician, then ran for the European Parliament. Once again, note the parallel with Martin McGuinness's "journey" and yet the absence of a single body in the road.

12 Dana opposes contraception, which may increase the number of Catholics. But she also opposes divorce, so they should all be suitably miserable.

13 Unlike a certain other candidate, who has complained about "west Brits" in the media, Dana has complained about "intellectuals" in the media. Suspicion of intellectuals is a strongly shared cultural value (see "US-based Christian recording artist", above.)

14 Although she always describes herself as being from Ireland, Dana's website contains three references to "Northern Ireland". Try finding even one on MartinForTheAras.ie.

15 Dana has recorded several singles written specifically for an Ulster Protestant audience. Hits include No Road Back, A Ticket to Nowhere, Who Put the Lights Out and There's Nothing You Can Do to Change My Mind .

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0928/1224304855725.html

[Minder]

Who is on the evening shift, Nally or sheamy?

[thebigfella]

Who is on the evening shift, Nally or sheamy?

Very good

[passedit]

I found this quite amusing...

Dana is all kinds of everything to Ulster Protestants in Áras race

NEWTON EMERSON

NEWTON'S OPTIC: WHO WOULD Ulster Protestants vote for in the presidential election, if we had a vote and were forced at gunpoint to use it? The answer is certainly Dana, for the following excellent reasons:

1 Dana and Martin McGuinness were born within a year of each other and grew up in the same working-class housing estate in Derry, yet Dana did not join the IRA. This proves there was never any social, political or historical inevitability about Martin McGuinness joining the IRA.

2 Dana has murdered several songs, but always on the record.

3 Dana was actually born in London, so a brief biography of her childhood can get the words "London" and "Derry" quite close together, as in "London-born Derry singer Dana". Technically, this also makes her even more British than Mary McAleese.

4 Dana is a proper Catholic. Proper Protestants respect this. It's lapsed Catholics we don't trust.

5 Dana's husband was involved in the Catholic Church's charismatic renewal movement in the 1970s, making him one accident of birth away from being a proper Protestant himself.

6 After her marriage, Dana set up home in Rostrevor, about as far away from Derry as it is possible to get while remaining in Northern Ireland. Any Protestant will find this understandable. By a remarkable coincidence, Mary McAleese also set up home in Rostrevor, but somehow she made it look a bit showy.

7 Dana has had a very successful career as a US-based Christian recording artist, connecting her to a hugely important Ulster Protestant subculture that everyone else finds a bit mental.

8 Dana has performed in three Royal Variety Shows, beginning in 1988, a full decade before Mary McAleese first met Queen Elizabeth. In 1995, in the space of a week, she performed separately for Pope John Paul II, president Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth. Admittedly, she has not performed for Nelson Mandela, but neither has she compared herself to Nelson Mandela. That would be nauseating.

9 Dana has never endorsed, nor been endorsed by, the UDA.

10 Dana appeared in the Best of British Variety Tour 2010 alongside Paul Daniels, The Krankies, The Grumbleweeds, Syd Little and Christopher Biggins. As an exercise in cultural outreach, this was more courageous and personally difficult than any number of meetings with the UDA.

11 Dana is a Eurovision winner who became an anti-European politician, then ran for the European Parliament. Once again, note the parallel with Martin McGuinness's "journey" and yet the absence of a single body in the road.

12 Dana opposes contraception, which may increase the number of Catholics. But she also opposes divorce, so they should all be suitably miserable.

13 Unlike a certain other candidate, who has complained about "west Brits" in the media, Dana has complained about "intellectuals" in the media. Suspicion of intellectuals is a strongly shared cultural value (see "US-based Christian recording artist", above.)

14 Although she always describes herself as being from Ireland, Dana's website contains three references to "Northern Ireland". Try finding even one on MartinForTheAras.ie.

15 Dana has recorded several singles written specifically for an Ulster Protestant audience. Hits include No Road Back, A Ticket to Nowhere, Who Put the Lights Out and There's Nothing You Can Do to Change My Mind .

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0928/1224304855725.html

Confession time. No matter that the fcker once polluted this board with his superiority complex, neutron cosistently makes me laugh.

[Nally Stand]

Who is on the evening shift, Nally or sheamy?

Very good

I suppose I'll call in. Tell me, do you lads have anything of use to contribute to the thread outside of condescending smugness? Minder any more intellectual pearls of wisdom like suggesting the Belfast Telegraph isn't a unionist leaning newspaper? Bigfella, any more abuse about my posting rate without realising urs is somethong very similar? Can we move on?

[mylestheslasher]

why do the media love norris
for me he would be an appalling president, he has no depth
a guy ho loves himself, its cringeworthy to watch him

wee michael d higgins is the man for me , he reminds me of darby o gill or michaelin( quiet man)

Has to be the Connachtman for me. Too long the people of Ireland's fairest and most oppressed and done by Province cower in the shade of the bullyboys of the East of the Shannon Provinces. With Enda, Eamonn and Micky D. Is féidir linn.

Shurely Michael D is a Munsterman??   According to Wicklowpedia, born in Limerick, raised in Clare and is an old boy of St Flannan's, Ennis.  Unless there two of them

Just another incorrect FACT from mayogodhelpus.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

why do the media love norris
for me he would be an appalling president, he has no depth
a guy ho loves himself, its cringeworthy to watch him

wee michael d higgins is the man for me , he reminds me of darby o gill or michaelin( quiet man)

Has to be the Connachtman for me. Too long the people of Ireland's fairest and most oppressed and done by Province cower in the shade of the bullyboys of the East of the Shannon Provinces. With Enda, Eamonn and Micky D. Is féidir linn.

Shurely Michael D is a Munsterman??   According to Wicklowpedia, born in Limerick, raised in Clare and is an old boy of St Flannan's, Ennis.  Unless there two of them

Just another incorrect FACT from mayogodhelpus.

Care to wind your neck in there horse.