98 thoughts on “Man Buys Coffee

    1. Hashtag Diversity

      The article could have been written by the average Broadsheet commentator. Yes, recognize yourselves, saddoes.

        1. tomthebom

          In fairness, most of her articles are actually about herself, whatever else they masquerade as.

    1. ABM's Bloodied Underwear

      Oddly enough, they declined to put their name to this fantastic piece of journalism.

  1. Tom Stewart

    People may dismiss this as a trifle, but it is not. Starbucks are massive coconuts on numerous counts, all of which fly directly in the face of what Barrett supposedly stands for.

    And it’s not as if he didn’t have a choice: about 50% of Dublin is coffeeshops these days.

    1. Peadar

      That’s all true, but it’s still not news.

      The Indo also chose to report on how Boyd Barrett claimed his full travel expenses last year to fix his car. They neglected to investigate the other Dublin TDs’ expenses at all.

      I dislike RBB, as he comes across as an odious toad most of the time, but this is a hatchet job, and a poor one at that.

  2. Mr. T.

    Wow the Indo really is full of cheap hacks scraping the barrel.

    And in the next breath, they’ll be letting on to speak out for the average Joe.

    I wish people would stop buying this piece of crud.

  3. Conski

    This is the same Starbucks thats located in the former Anglo Irish Bank on the Green – STOP THE PRESS ! Who’s Vicki Vale!?!?

          1. will-billy

            no, was directed at d2dweller but i was backing you up lilly:) try saying that phrase as all one word

          1. Lilly

            Ah well, we’re allowed to come in here & dribble useless puns all over the gaff. I’m not gonna apologise for a momentary lapse in brilliance ;)

  4. ahjayzis

    Suggestion Broadsheet,

    Why not contrast in the post this piece of voter information with the glowing article about that famed humanitarian and general all-round perfect local TD Michael Lowry from a few weeks ago?

    1. sickofallthisbs

      You are presupposing that Broadsheet attempts to be independent by providing balance in its news coverage or by investigating what is submitted to them.

      1. Sham Bob

        What he’s suggesting would reinforce the point of this article, not provide your so-called balance. The Lowry article would prove that the Independent is an attack dog when it comes to left wing TD’s but soft-soaps anyone in the FG gene-pool, even those with findings made against them in a tribunal on corruption. Clearly it’s the ironically named Independent which has a problem with balance, and Broadsheet is dead right to highlight it.

  5. Frilly Keane, Anyone?

    A ffs would ye all just cop on.

    When I’m grabbing a coffee I go to either the nearest one or the one without the Queue or the one where I’m due a freebie. How I vote has ūck all t’do wi’it

    And AFAIK. Starbucks in Ireland is one of many franchise brands owned by the same local family, Butler(?) Milanos Mao TGI Fridays etc.

    I’d be very surprised if they’re not stumping up locally. Mind you, I’m always open to correction.

    1. sickofallthisbs

      EVERY DECISION YOU MAKE/ACTION YOU DO IS POLITICAL. THINK ABOUT WHO YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR THE NEXT TIME YOU SQUEEZE A SPOT.

      1. Wayne Carr

        No sickof, if you aren’t aware of something, then you can’t be proven guilty of it. Thus, you don’t have to take personal responsibility for doing it.

        It’d be like me pointing a gun at a child, presuming it wasn’t loaded, pulling the trigger, and then being covered in brain splat. I can’t be charged with any crime, because I’m an ignorant moron. That’s the law, both in this country, and in the universe.

  6. Alfred E. Neumann

    An unhealthy vendor of bitterness and froth, raising the heart-rates of morons so its owner can live in tax-avoding splendour. Starbucks and the Indo are made for each other.

  7. Chris

    Part of me thinks this is nonsense, but I have to say I even avoid Starbucks myself, I have deliberately not gone in hundreds of times. Not saying you should be but if you are the type with a niggling social conscience Starbucks is one of those little things you can so easily opt out of. You can get a cup of coffee anywhere else. He does a lot of political trading on the back of his Socialist morals where as I don’t do any on mine. If I can avoid it why can’t he?

    1. ABM's Bloodied Underwear

      Maybe he’s going to do a Ming “The contents of this container is shite” speech and dare those in Daíl Eireann to drink it.

  8. Jess

    Surely this is one of the worst things an irish politician has ever done. I expect a corruption tribunal to assembled forthwith

  9. Blublu

    Actually think it’s fair that this is reported, only problem is that they don’t do the same micro examination for right leaning politicians. If you campaign hard against large corporates and tax avoiders you shouldn’t be supporting them at the same time.

    1. ahyeah

      Absolutely – the nerve of him thinking he might be able to represent our interests and him living with his mam.

      1. ahjayzis

        Well nothing really. But it’s hardly a good foundation for his whole “The minister doesn’t know how tough it is for real people on the ground” when he’s off home later to a mammy dinner.

        Not gonna vote someone in who can’t even put a roof over his own head.

          1. Lilly

            I agree though. No effectual adult male over the age of 22 lives with his mother. It screams dysfunction.

          2. Janet

            It might scream bad luck, or a previous bad choice of partner. . It can be a humbling experience when you have a bad patch yourself.. pride before a fall and all that :)

          3. ahjayzis

            How though?

            I think it’s a fairly low bar to want to vote for representatives who can at least support themselves? And I don’t mean home ownership necessarily, but living with your folks when you’re earning and at that age is just a no-no.

            I wouldn’t date a 40 year old living with his parents, why the hell would I vote for one?

          4. Lilly

            @ Janet — Yes, of course. I was thinking more of the sort of fella who has never managed to cut the apron strings, never left the nest or if he did, only for a short-lived flit.

        1. Janet

          coming home for Christmas though! should dispel rose tinted delusions of big fries in bed and all my clothes ironed. …

  10. Bonkers

    I agree with the general sentiment, its Boyd Barrets choice where he gets his coffee but jesus a bit of common sense lad, if you’re going to give out about tax avoidance then spending your money with tax avoiders isn’t exactly the way to go.

    Either way this is an Indo hatchet job because we all know they dont and won’t give politicans on the right the same scrutiny they have afforded Boyd Barrett here. Furthermore its wrong to blame Starbucks, Apple, Google, et.al for tax avoidance, they are merely gaming a system established by the politicians. So if they are paying 1% tax it is because our politicians have allowed this to happen, all the while pretending they haven’t and its really because a bunch of tax accountants are smarter than them. Its pretty simple to write a law saying every company pays 12.5% Corp tax and if you try to pay less than this then Revenue will issue fines and penalties, just like they would with an individual under declaring tax. Fact of the matter is we are a tax haven but it is not in our interests to admit it. Everyone else in Europe is saying except for Irish politicians, its like the great unspoken elephant in the room.

    Anyway all that aside I love my coffee but go out of my way to support independent coffee shops. I was reading last year how Ireland and Italy are unique in Europe in that the big coffee chains haven’t quite managed to get a grip of the market here in the same way they have in the US and UK where everything seems to be Starbucks and Costa Coffee, you just can’t get away from them over there and I’d never like to see Ireland go the same way. The Italians had a coffee culture long long before the Starbucks name was ever conceived so when they tried to get into the local market there they were basically laughed at.

    1. gallantman

      “Furthermore its wrong to blame Starbucks, Apple, Google, et.al for tax avoidance, they are merely gaming a system established by the politicians.”

      Although, these politicians are funded and lobbied by these same corporations to ensure that they establish the system in a way that that allows taxes to be avoided. So do blame the Corporations then.

  11. Manta Rae

    Did he actually buy the coffee? Did the reporter, or whoever wrote the piece, witness RBB buying the beverage? If so, what did he buy? Did the barista write his name on the cup, as is their wont in Starbucks? If so, what name did he give? Richard? Rich? When did this event take place? Today? Last week? Did he take a sip as he walked towards Leinster House? If so, then it was obviously his drink but then again he may have been asked to buy a coffee for someone else? I could go on but this ‘story’ sums up the shoddy standards that prevail in Talbot St. With some extra detail, it could have been quite humourous.- a cheeky poke at Comrade Barret. But without the detail, the type of detail properly trained news reporters seldom ignore, it’s hard not to see it for what it is – a lazily written piece of garbage that was probably typed up by some internet monkey who is more used to copying and pasting crap from the internet as opposed to actually crafting an original story, however dumb that story may be…. Then again, it was probably written up by a crawly bumleg news exec who wouldn’t know a proper story if it was served to him in a cup with his/her name on it….

  12. Hand Solo

    This is even worse than the Shinner Dinner article they ran. For those of you unlucky enough to have read this pulitzer worthy article it was about a members of Sinn Fein who went out for dinner one night and ate something. This incredibly lame journalism championed by the likes of Fionnan Sheahan needs to called for what it is and the journalists and papers who run such stories should be shunned.

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