56 thoughts on “De Friday Papers

  1. john f

    The Irish government should have been actively lobbying for a no-tariff trade deal but the UK from day one following BREXIT. Instead, they decided to double down on stupid and hitched their wagon to team EU….. At all costs. After all, it’s in our direct national interest, remember how the EU watched out back by twisting our arm in the bank bailouts. If anyone thinks that we matter in their game of negotiating brinksmanship then I have a bridge to sell them.
    In the event of a hard BREXIT trade from the docks could get dicey. As regards Northern Ireland and the border there the British have said that they will not be building and enforcing a hard border. If the EU wants to impose one by the Irish government then they would have to do it. If I have BREXIT comes to pass we should tell the European Union to go to hell regarding putting a border on this island.
    It’s safe to say that most of our politicians negotiating and overseeing BREXIT have not been acting in our best interest. Rather they seem to be acting from a European federalist ideology.
    However macron is under pressure in France and Merkel in Germany. Any job losses on the continent arising from BREXIT will not go down well with their electorates. I expect common sense will win out here in the 11th hour.
    We live in a digital age, all TDs and senators have Facebook pages where you can message them, or emails where you can contact their offices. If enough people make contact with them and tell them to take their fingers out things could change very fast.
    We can do nothing about the negotiations between Brussels and London. But we can do a lot more to protect our national interests and so far our officials have not been doing that.

    1. Ron

      Leotard Varadkar as usual out of his depth. They haven’t a clue what they are doing. I don’t know why anyone is surprised. He has been COMPLETELY incompetent in everything he has touched so far so it’s not really surprising to see his incompetence on full display regarding Brexit. Past incompetence is a great predictor of future incompetence

      1. SOQ

        EVERY SINGE DAY there is some clown on this site ranting on about how incompetent Leo Varadkar is but this relentless negativity ignores the fact that if Micheál Martin or Mary Lou McDonald were in the same position with Brexit, they would be doing the exact same thing.

        The mess is not on this side of the pond lads so I serious question what sort of agenda is at play. It’s nearly like a British propaganda bot is programmed to insert Leo criticism [here].

          1. SOQ

            Yes well, this can be easily proved by doing an Excel lookup on IP numbers which is slightly different to deep state arrests of banana shaped aliens or whatever nonsense you are promoting this week.

        1. scottser

          the shinners had a chance to back may against rees-mogg and the other window-lickers against the amendments to the chequers agreement. the brexit tories only won by 6 votes. their abstention policy is stupid; it’s like having a nice merc and refusing to drive it cos you’d have to pay car tax or some other stupid reason. stupidy stupidy stupid.

          1. SOQ

            SF have been 100% consistent in their refusal to take HP seats but that has absolutely nothing to do with what I was criticising

            Propaganda Rule no 1. Make your enemies singular and personalised so they can then be demonised.

            There is no real criticism of Leo’s approach to Brexit in Ireland, if anything, his popularity has gone up.

        2. Ron

          @SOQ. You are right about FF and the shinners. In fact I’d go even further and say there is no more then 5 or 6 politicians on the Dail gravy train that would be somewhat competent to deal with these issues. Do you finally see now how depressing this Republic of Clowns is? They are clearly incompetent during canvassing time but yet you still elect them. It’s like an infinite loop of incompetence.

  2. Cú Chulainn

    I don’t know. An extension is a very real solution in the short term. Whilst not wanting to suggest that either the UK or Irish politicians are any good. For the time being they are following the only sensible course of action. Hold our ground for now. Let’s see where it goes.

  3. SOQ

    May to say no backstop today. It’s like the woman hasn’t one gun to her head but ten and whichever cocks last gets her attention.

    Meanwhile Paisley gets 30 day suspension for corruption.

  4. Ollie Cromwell

    ” Brussels doesn’t share Varadkar’s confidence over no border ”
    Of course it doesn’t because Little Leo is betting the house on assurances given by a drunk.
    You may not agree with my views on Brexit but there can be hardly anyone with confidence in Varadkar acting in Ireland’s best interest.
    An Anglo-Irish negotiating approach could have brought valuable concessions for Ireland amid the inevitable fallout from Brexit.
    Instead the Irish have predictably allowed themselves to become the EU’s useful idiot.
    Again.
    Don’t expect any sympathy from the mainland post-Brexit when the EU tosses the Paddies aside like a used condom.
    Well,you are being shafted at the moment.

    1. ReproButina

      The British Taoiseach is a drunk?

      When you say things like “An Anglo-Irish negotiating approach” about the Sasamach negotiations it just makes it obvious that you know nothing about the situation. If you had just admitted that from the start it would have saved a lot of time.

    2. Nigel

      Actually we’re all quite impressed with how statesmanlike he looks next to the UK government. That’s quite an achievement. And at this point we’d be idiots to expect any kind of sympathy or consideration from the UK, ever.

      1. Andrew

        We’re all quite impressed are we? Speak for yourself. I think he’s naïve at best and thick at worst.
        Our approach to the UK should be a lot more conciliatory. We are screwed if this goes pear shaped and we want to rely on the EU not leave us swinging ?
        People have short memories with regard to the EU and are seriously misinformed with regard to the economic consequences.
        It’s unfortunate that so many regurgitate what they read in the Irish Times, I had hoped we’d learned enough of journalism in this country to know better.

        1. Nigel

          We’re screwed. It was pear-shaped from the start, now it’s the shape of some alien fruit from some hell planet. Being conciliatory wouldn’t have helped – the Brexit crowd don’t know now and never knew what they wanted and what were doing because it turns out a bunch of belligerent nationalistic slogans aren’t a plan. They’re willing to utterly screw over UK citizens living on the continent with their No Deal, you think they’ve any regard for an irritating ex-colony with notions of statehood? The mistake was treating the brexiteers as if they were mature representatives of a serious nation state negotiating for a major change in its relationship with its allies and trading partners rather than a bunch of infants running around and banging their heads off the edges of the tables and crying about their owies.

          1. Ollie Cromwell

            Nigel is simply Fintan O’Tool on playback.He’ll still be gibbering like a barstool republican long after Brexit is signed,sealed and delivered and Europe is coming after Ireland’s corporate tax rate.
            Let’s see who your friends are then.

      2. Ollie Cromwell

        And as for consideration from the UK.
        You forgot the £3.2billion the UK loaned this country in 2010 when no-one else would touch it with a bargepole.
        Mind you your taxes are helping to pay back both the loan and its interest (currently around £43million every six months ) although that’s small beer compared to the €44billion debt Ireland still owes for bailing out the bondholders at Frau Merkel’s behest.
        Good old Ireland – still bending over for the EU.

        1. ReproButina

          What a good friend Britain is, reminding us of that loan they gave us to bail out British banks that were going to fail due to their practices in Ireland. When we look back on how they saddled us with such debt it’s hard to understand why we don’t rush to aid them in their quest to destroy their own economy.

          1. Nigel

            I know! Haven’t you noticed how everything the Brexiteers does shows how much consideration they’ve shown to its effects on their nearest neighbours and all the proposals from the UK for schemes to mitigate those effects! Really you;d be silly not to cosy up to such thoughtful politicians!

          2. Ollie Cromwell

            The UK loaned Ireland the money so that it wouldn’t keep sending thousands of unemployed people across the Irish Sea to find work.
            It didn’t happen,of course,but the Irish were welcomed as they always have been and many have found a permanent future on the mainland.
            Just a small bit of gratitude from Varadkar and the Irish wouldn’t go amiss.
            After all,it will happen again in the future.It always does.The Irish have been sucking on Britannia’s teat since independence.

          3. Nigel

            Yeah, Brexiteers don’t come across as angry, resentful, arrogant or entitled at all! I think the fundamental contradictions underlying Bexit is somehow summed up in the Irish workforce contributing to the UK economy being ‘welcome’ and at the same time ‘sucking on Britannia’s teat.’ It’s an incredibly emotional and chaotic endeavour, driven by surging tides of xenophobia and self-loathing.

          4. Ollie Cromwell

            The last census revealed 869,093 people born in Ireland are living in Great Britain.
            That’s got to be well over a million by now.
            You’re very welcome.

          5. ReproButina

            How many Brits are claiming Irish passports now to avoid the impact of Sasamach?

            Aren’t they lucky to have a caring, forgiving neighbour to give them shelter from the morons running their country into the ground for a quick buck?

            You’re welcome.

          6. Ollie Cromwell

            There’s a difference between acquiring a passport and having to leave your own country for economic reasons.
            If you weren’t so thick you’d understand that.
            I know it’s a myth about the Irish not being the brightest but you really push it to its limits sometimes.
            Admittedly not quite as bad as Brother Barnadas but you’re not far behind.

          7. Nigel

            We know. They are acquiring passports because they are anticipating leaving their country for economic reasons.

          8. ReproButina

            Every time you call me thick it’s an admission that you can’t deal with a point raised.

            Carry on.

          9. ReproButina

            I believe it was the day before yesterday and I asked you if you were being deliberately thick which is not the same thing as calling you thick.

            Nice try though.

          10. ReproButina

            Doesn’t make it any less true.

            For what it’s worth I genuinely didn’t intend to call you thick.

          11. jusayinlike

            Agh I don’t take it personally Bertie, your great for a discussion, the site wouldn’t be the same without you.

          12. ReproButina

            Well now you’re just being nice to catch me off my guard.

            Thanks, I may rarely agree with you but I feel the same. Wouldn’t be the same without you.

  5. Imgur

    Social media regulator … FF only too eager to set up yet another useless, gravy quango for their mates to bleed dry … parasites.

    1. jusayinlike

      Careful now.. there’s a concerted effort worldwide to regulate the interweb, the Brit’s want ofcom to regulate the web in the UK, they want everyone who broadcasts independently to apply for a licence through ofcom. The US wants to impose net neutrality and at the same time utube is demonetising alternative media accounts and removing content whilst promoting shills like Joe Rogan. The figleaves for this are child safety and hate speech.

      Don’t buy kids smart phones and go elsewhere online if you’re being clubbed around by someone else’s opinions.

      Free speech is a right.

  6. Ollie Cromwell

    Only yesterday Varadkar was threatening planes might not fly in a no deal Brexit.
    Does he not even know that flyover – the first freedom of air – is guaranteed by IASTA of which Ireland is a signatory.
    He’s almost as stupid as another Taiseaoch who urged Irish citizens to vote for a Treaty he hadn’t read.
    Mind you there are plenty of people who still think Haughey – who robbed this country blind – was a gas man.

    1. Cian

      Mmm. I’m not a lawyer, but article 6 says ” No scheduled international air service may be operated over or into the territory of a contracting State, except with the special permission or other authorization of that State. ”

      It is very possible that the UK does not have any explicit authorization to fly over other EU countries separate to a general EU-reciprocal agreement. If they leave the EU, they no longer have that permission. Equally, EU planes would not be permitted to fly over the UK either.

      1. Nigel

        The thing is I seem to remember this issue being flagged about a year ago, along with a number of others, none of which the Brexitteers have shown any interest whatsoever in actually addressing.

          1. Nigel

            I can’t rule it out. I’m trying to take the living room out of the rest of the house in order to reclaim my sovereignty. The other occupants of the house are working to actively sabotage my efforts by insisting on a frictiionless border and demanding free movement of people to the stairs to get to the kitchen. I can’t understand why the dog isn’t being more conciliatory to me just because they have all the dog food in the cupboard under the stairs. I have the full support of the cat, however, though there is some disagreement as to whether we want a hard living room exit or a soft living room exit so we haven;t really formed a coherent plan for such issues as access to food and rights to use the front door.

      2. Ollie Cromwell

        Which is why Varadkar’s idiotic grandstanding was pathetic.
        The entire airspace to the west of Ireland is operated by the UK.
        This whole planes won’t fly scenario was floated and dismissed during Project Fear.Even Michael O’Leary realises it’s silly.
        I mean who is advising this clown ?

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