Where to Ireland?
•
by Liam Tatlock
Reading through this article fascinates me
Austerity rules?
The UK has more than enough problems under a right wing government, whose aim is to privatise everything it can get it's hands on for the benefit of it's banker backers. I was aware that Ireland had been placed on the danger list by the European money men, but hadn't realised the extent that the vulnerable had been hit, though austerity cuts always hit the worst off and seems to barely touch the ones with money.
To this end, I'd be really, really interested to hear from Irish citizens as to whether the article is accurate and how harsh things have been in recent years.
UPDATE
No FG-FF coalition
It looks like Ireland is in for a period of confusion with no clear direction, though, from a distance, FF and FG have always looked very similar. Labour's vote seems to have "done a Scotland" and collapsed, so they now seem to have emulated the LibDems in the UK and have paid for supporting an unpopular government with unpopular policies.
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Read had Iceland took a different approach and came out better.
http://icelandicecon.blogspot.ie/2013/01/the-economic-truth-on-iceland.html
Iceland's reaction to the crimes of the banks was much more appropriate.
Cuts have left the police struggling to get to grips with gangland violence - TRUE
The health service is in crisis, with chaotic overcrowding and very long waiting lists - TRUE
Cuts to education are showing in the children of austerity: among 16- to 19-year-olds Ireland now ranks 18th of 23 OECD countries in literacy, and 21st in numeracy - TRUE
Child poverty has almost doubled - TRUE
Homelessness has spiralled out of control- True
Problem is the opposition are exactly what is described...Crazies and the malevolent Sinn Fein (and the dark forces behind them)
I'll be voting for the Government but it will leave a nasty taste
I don't expect them to win
I am surprised to hear you call them crazies. I certainly don't think that all of the independents and new smaller groupings are crazy.
PBP crazy
Renua Crazy
DDI Crazy
WP Crazy
AAA Crazy
I like the Social Democrats but thay have no candidate where I live
I don't believe in giving Independents a vote, they don't make for good governance, but you are right some (not all...looks at Kerry) are good TDs
I will probably give greens the No 1 but they have no chance here so it will transfer to Labour
Quick google will show that Millionaires increased In Ireland during the austerity period, and the two billionaires increased their wealth......the rich get richer and the poor get poorer...The right wing will say to hell with the poor, they do not create wealth so why share it, the left will say that the poor deserve to share in the wealth of the better off.
As governments (and media) are more and more controlled by large corporations what was once seen as the left lean more and more towards the right.....look at the Labour party...!
The difference between rich and poor leads to a breakdown in society, first manifested by increased crime rates......"Lock em up" is the usual response....no room...."build more jails" but they cost money, make the prisoners work and privatise the prisons.....then we have created a slave society....
The right say the left are evil, the left say the right are evil......😃 The future is ours.....
It's amazing that in times of austerity, the rich still manage to get richer.
You should rad up on Hedge funds
as long as you all move to dublin bay south and vote for that tierney guy with the awesome eagle posters. u will be ok.
I rad the article and thought it was good. Thanks for putting it out there.
The article sounds accurate to me.
Don't forget the increase in rough sleepers - very visible in Dublin city centre, and the massive increase in homeless families. There seems also to be an increased number of cases of abuse in various care homes, even those run by state agencies. But you know, why should we care about the old or disabled...I mean what do they add to the economy... 🙁 I look forward to carrousel
@Liam Tatlock...Not really, the rich can and do influence governments and media....Just look at DOB's control of media in Ireland....times of austerity are brought in by right wing governments...and they look after their own. Ireland is not much different than the US and most EU countries in this regard....
Democracy is the best system we know...but it needs to be changed to a new form of democracy, maybe direct democracy....but one thing is sure, it is the beginning of the end for big party domination of politics.....IND/Others now capture 30% of the vote in Ireland...and growing....
democraty is the worst system mate, because it seems the best to the poor...
Our education stats are slipping because the rest of the world's systems progressed while our young children are still taught their math by table-memorization. Our young children come home with political and social stances years before they're introduced to civics and economics.
Trinity, once a world class university, dropped 30 places in the last tabulation: That is on the back of students that went through our education system during boom funding, not austerity.
An unemployed head of a household of five can not only avail of free education in the sector of their choice up to the level of Bachelors, they will be paid over 1,400euros/mnth by the state and are potentially eligible for 900euros/mnth rent allowance on top of that, or a state house at highly reduced payment. many of the homeowners in Dublin moved into their low-income houses in the 80's and the gov turned their "rent" into "purchase" down the road, at that reduced rate.
your not allowed to build housing in this nation without apportioning a section to low-income housing.
+ a medical card (free healthcare visits and 50cent prescriptions)
remember, they are complaining about having to wait for FREE healthcare.
it is ofc completely impossible for our economy to support even more than a fraction of this socialism.
but that's ok, cuz we fund our socialism by servicing the most obscene sector of the capitalist world.
we set our corporation tax really low to attract massive international tax dodgers to drain the tax revenue from our allies/economic partners.
Also, when you hear stats about Irish student performance in math, remember that our scoring system rewards process over product:
A student can earn over 80% on a math question with an incorrect answer in Ireland.
You can get a distinction in a math course without ever providing a correct answer here.
The reason for that is you get points for the steps you use to get an answer. If you make a mistake early on you lose points for that step...but then will get points for correct steps (with the wrong figure) after.
A perfectly fair system and the correct way to do it.
^You've just explained your entire erepublik career:
worship procedure, disregard result.
Free Scotland from Tory austerity
Free the UK from Tory barbarity
Scotland has a chance, England won't break from voting Tories in.