The Race for the ARAS.....

[Declan]

If he can use his business and real world experience to the betterment of the country then there is no doubt that he is the best of them.

And his experience is brilliant   To my mind he encapsulates everything that is wrong with "business" in this country. Happy to be part of the of the biggest shower of chancers/spoofers/liars that this country had as the ruling party for the last 15 or so years. Happy to break the law re directors loans and to put it down to an accounting mistake   

At least SG despite some flaws comes across as a person of the people.

What does a person of the people actually mean? I'd have thought that all the candidates were of the people thought maybe Michael D really is a hobbit- Dana and Marty being of the people from the northern part of the island.

The only one who we could send to meet foreign dignitaries and businesses and could sell Ireland as a place to do business. Which is the main positive thing a president can do in my view.

If he wants a job with the IDA let him apply there. The presidents role is the head of state to represent all of the people and not just the business community.

I've said all along that Michael D was the best of a bad lot and I've seen nothing to change my mind

[Tubberman]

McGuinness could not have carried out these murders, because while he was a member of the IRA (just for those few years when he was a young man standing up and fighting back) he never fired a shot. That's what he said....

"I didn't say I never fired a gun -- I was in the IRA." Martin McGuinness

Yeah, he just had a terrible, terrible aim....

[Ulick]

This looks like what most people are / have already decided upon and it's probably a gamble worth taking at this stage.

I've seen nothing in the campaign in relation to SG that stinks so much as to put me off voting for him. If he can use his business and real world experience to the betterment of the country then there is no doubt that he is the best of them.

What "business and real world experience" would that be? The man's a fraud. He takes tens of thousands in state grants and pays the money over to himself in dividend. He gets investors to put money into a company in return for equity, closes it down and moves the positive assets to a new company owned by him. Charging GAA clubs E5k a touch for advice on applying for grants (well in fairness he would have experience in that one). Running around the country lifting cheques for Brian Cowan. The man's a fecking gangster.

[highorlow]

Whatever their ultimate suitability I don't think you can say that these people are weak human beings.

Why not? They were all goading and sniggering like bullies in a playground while SG was getting abused by what  now turns out to be almost a fictitious story.

Does this type of behaviour deem them any more suitable to be the president than the innocuous support SG showed to his previous colleagues in a party that he supported?

Paid by the state means they have the comfort, security and protection of the state and are guaranteed their weekly wage, I never stated that they don't work! Get your Facts right!

Gallagher created the wealth that is able pay for the very frontline people you list out.

[Nally Stand]

As for the twitter incident Nally, I think you're wrong. you think I am wrong, and I don't think we're going to get anywhere by continuing to argue opposites

Though it's not a case of "thinking" who is right or wrong. It is simple fact. One of the guests on VB last night stated that they directly contacted Sinn Féin and were told that the twitter account Pat Kenny spoke of was not an official account and that Pat's claim that SF were to bring the man in question to the media was not true.

[highorlow]

nd his experience is brilliant    To my mind he encapsulates everything that is wrong with "business" in this country. Happy to be part of the of the biggest shower of chancers/spoofers/liars that this country had as the ruling party for the last 15 or so years. Happy to break the law re directors loans and to put it down to an accounting mistake   

Back up these false claims?

[Declan]

Back up these false claims?

What false claims?
Mr Gallagher, admitted that he had taken an interest free loan for €82,829 from Beach House Training and Consultants Ltd that was in breach of company law which states that a director can't have a loan that exceeds 10pc of the company's assets. It had net assets of €114,320 at the time.
However, he claimed that it was an honest mistake and an accounting error was responsible.

[Hardy]

McGuinness could not have carried out these murders, because while he was a member of the IRA (just for those few years when he was a young man standing up and fighting back) he never fired a shot. That's what he said....

"I didn't say I never fired a gun -- I was in the IRA." Martin McGuinness

Yeah, he just had a terrible, terrible aim....

Yes, my apologies. The quote was that he never killed anybody - so he really, really can't have been involved in murders. Either way, as an IRA man he must have been as useful as a sunroof in a submarine.

[Nally Stand]

McGuinness could not have carried out these murders, because while he was a member of the IRA (just for those few years when he was a young man standing up and fighting back) he never fired a shot. That's what he said....

"I didn't say I never fired a gun -- I was in the IRA." Martin McGuinness

Yeah, he just had a terrible, terrible aim....

Yes, my apologies. The quote was that he never killed anybody - so he really, really can't have been involved in murders. Either way, as an IRA man he must have been as useful as a sunroof in a submarine.

I wonder did every man and woman who ever went through the IRA all kill someone then?

[highorlow]

he claimed that it was an honest mistake and an accounting error was responsible.

What false claims?

[lynchbhoy]

the IRA never targetted 'innocents' - though disasterously some were killed in attacks.

That's a blatant lie and you know it.

no it isnt. ....and you know it !

[Declan]

he claimed that it was an honest mistake and an accounting error was responsible.

As Mandy Rice Davies famously said " he would say that wouldn't he "

What false claims?

Don't understand you quoting that - he admitted taking a loan that was in breach of company law.

[lynchbhoy]

I know i've not always seen eye to eye with you Jim, but you are 100% right above.
I'd like to hear what your view on mcguinness is also.

Lynchboy,
I suspect this where you go back to not seeing eye to eye with you but as you asked:
1.  I think MMcG is a liar.  I'd actually buy that a former member of a subversive organisation may need to be coy about his past.  That said, I find MMcG partial revelations too much.  For example I just don't believe he left the IRA on some arbitrary date in 1974.  If he is proud of his past then why this kind of nonsense?  What changed in 1974?  I just don't buy it.

2.  I don't believe his answers to David Kelly about what happened in Ballinamore.  I won't for one minute claim that Marty knows everyone who killed anyone but for such a high-profile incident, I believe all senior members of the Republican movement know who was involved.

3.  ( On this point I must point out that I know some of Ben O'Sullivan's family) I think that (caused by others) MMcG as a president would run into huge issues with the kind of verbal gymnastics that he has used to date when pushed on his views of Jerry McCabes killers.  I believe that there is more to that story (ie why it was murder, not manslaughter) and this could still come out in time.    It would be a huge issue if some ever found a link to damery or roche for example.

4. For various reasons of policy and experience I don't have time for Sinn Féin just as some people have no time for other parties.
/Jim.

That is 100% Jim. While I might not fully agree with it all, this is what a lot if not most people think.
Dont have a gra for sf myself, but I feel that same way about all the political parties.
thanks for your answer. This is what sf have to address if they ever want to get where they want to go politically.

[westmayo]

Gallagher goes on an awful lot about creating jobs and bringing them to Ireland. My recollection from last night when asked how many jobs his company currently employee. I think his answer was something in the region of 20. While it's nothing to be sniffed at and fair play to him for having created the jobs in the first place. But there are plenty other business people around the place who have created much more.

[Bingo]

the IRA never targetted 'innocents' - though disasterously some were killed in attacks.

That's a blatant lie and you know it.

no it isnt. ....and you know it !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_bomb I suppose Catholic cooks can be classed as the enemy alright.