59 thoughts on “De Monday Papers

  1. ReproButina

    Sasamach would lead to a United Ireland. It’s only a matter of time before Scotland abandons a post-Sasamach UK too. Makes life very easy for the EU. Do a deal or lose the UK.

    1. ReproButina

      And Boris is dead right about the white flag. He’s just slightly confused in thinking there’s another option.

    2. SOQ

      Unfortunately I fear that it will not be a peaceful transition. The whole political situation is so finely balanced up there that it wouldn’t take much to kick it off again. Even now the entire place is dominated by nationalism and by nationalism I mean both sides.

      Still, a merger between FF and SDLP is on the cards which is a pretty good indication of the mood of middle class Catholics. All it will then take is a minority of pragmatic minded Presbyterians to push it over the line.

      The political impact of having another 1.6 million people is really going to shake things up. Historically, unionists would have favoured FG but FG are also the most pro EU party. The entire body politic up there is way more socially conservative than in the south of course.

      1. ReproButina

        No, it won’t be easy at all but it won’t happen on March 30th. We saw with the BSE crisis that unionist farmers were willing to put their loyalty to the crown aside for their economic well being. The hit of Sasamach will soon show them they’d be better off in the EU than in the UK but that conversation has already long started.

    3. Ollie Cromwell

      You think so ?
      Support for independence in Scotland has remained stuck at around 45% since the 2014 referendum,even after the Brexit vote.
      And,of course,the SNP lost more than a third of its seats in the general election.
      Given the choice between sharing sovereignty with Brussels or London it seems the Scots prefer to remain embedded in the Union.
      Probably because the state of Scotland’s financial are now even worse than they were at the time of the independence referendum.
      Thanks to the collapse in oil prices and the SNP’s woeful economic record Scottish revenues are just over £300 per head lower than for the UK as a whole while its spending is more than £1,500 per head higher.
      But then I guess facts-based arguments are not really your bag are they Beret Boy ?

        1. Ollie Cromwell

          Oh dear,you’ve produced a poll by the pro-SNP Scotsman predicting what will happen in the future after a Brexit which hasn’t even been decided yet.
          And you think that’s proof ?
          I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the box but that’s dumb even by your usual standard.

          1. ReproButina

            Oh dear. I was working on the assumption that you knew how opinion polls worked. I see now I was wrong. Let me spell it out for you. The people doing the poll ask a question, e.g. would you be in favour of Scotland breaking away from the UK in the event of Sasamach? Then the person asked the question says either yes, no or don’t know. The answers are counted up and the results released. It’s got nothing to do with predicting the future.

            When you use the Daily Star as your source you’ve lost all right to criticise any other source (except Fox News, the Sun and the Daily Mail obviously) but it’s nice to see your only response when presented with an inconvenient fact is to launch an ad hominem.

          2. Ollie Cromwell

            Okay,let’s try one more time Beret Boy.
            Remember I told you support for independence has remained virtually unchanged at 45% since the referendum.
            Your 47% is the virtually part of that sentence and 2% is within the margins of error of all opinion polls.
            Christ,you really are thick.

          3. ReproButina

            They’re saying a 4 point boost to 47% but yes, it could be as high as 49%. No wonder you’re trying so hard to discredit the poll.

          4. ReproButina

            Good man. It’s important to know when you’re beaten. If only the Sasamach negotiators could get to that realisation.

      1. SOQ

        A brexiter arguing economics, well that is a first.

        If (or when) NI votes to leaves the UK, the union is no longer. No one knows the impact that will have on Scottish pubic opinion but when the post Brexit hardship starts to bite, Scottish nationalism will really raise its head.

        1. Ollie Cromwell

          Let me know when you find out how the Irish government intends to find the 10 billion pounds a year the UK provides to keep NI running.
          Dublin can’t even build enough houses,schools and hospitals for its existing population.
          Ultimately people vote with their wallets not their hearts.
          It ain’t gonna happen.

          1. SOQ

            You are incorrectly assuming two things.

            That the level of subvention will be the same post brexit. It won’t, it will be higher because all indicators are that NI will be disproportionately affected, meaning more job losses.

            Also that an all island economy has no benefits. Again untrue. Ireland as a single unit within the EU has a very obvious advantage. It will be the only English speaking country and the close proximity of ROI and NI has yet to be exploited.

          2. Ollie Cromwell

            I’m correctly assuming that it will be many generations before a majority of people north and south of the border will vote for unification.
            In the last major opinion poll even a large majority of Catholics in the north preferred to stay as they are.
            Of course a united Ireland remains an ideal,as it should,but that’s all it is.
            For what it’s worth I’m all in favour of a united Ireland as NI is a huge drain on the rest of the UK – and that’s besides the historic nature of a single Ireland.
            I’d guess the majority of English people think that as well.
            I just don’t think it will happen any time soon.

          3. SOQ

            Perhaps but post Brexit is uncharted waters so nobody really knows how it is going to pan out in Ireland. The general consensus is that it will move us closer to unification. Even some unionists acknowledge this.

    4. davali

      Here we are the ranting of a deluded fool
      How little you know of a persons identity and nationalism
      Even through the troubles the Brits had no intention of abandoning northern Ireland and the Scots made it clear with the result of that referendum

      1. ReproButina

        There’s a lot of words there david but zero sense. The people of Northern Ireland were asked “Imagine now that the UK decided to leave the EU. Under these circumstances how would you vote in a referendum on the constitutional arrangements of the island of Ireland?” and over 52% said they’d vote for a united Ireland. Under the GFA they have the right to push for one. Who are you to tell them they can’t have it?

        Hello Sasamach, goodbye UK!

          1. ReproButina

            Ah, more pathetic insults which just go to show how much I’m getting to you with the repeated popping of your deluded Sasamach bubble.

    5. Ollie Cromwell

      A little more information from that Deltapoll that caused flicker in the knickers for Beret Boy.

      In Deltapoll’s sample, 824 people voted to Remain while only 292 voted to Leave, a ratio of 74% to 26%. Northern Ireland only voted 56% to 44% in the referendum.

      301 people who responded to the poll were supporters of the Alliance Party, allied with the Liberal Democrats, while only 162 were supporters of the pro-Union DUP. In the 2017 General Election the DUP got more than 4 times as many votes as the Alliance, who were beaten into 5th place with a measly 7.9%. At least they outperformed their Liberal Democrat allies…

      Deltapoll have weighted the sample but the raw data is so skewed that it puts major question marks over the credibility of the results. It just so happens that it produced exactly the headline the Remainers who commissioned it wanted…

      Polls,eh ?

      1. ReproButina

        Northern Ireland voted to remain so it makes sense that those polled would be skewed that way. If you read the rest of the details you’ll see that those asked were happy to remain within the UK in the event that the UK remains within the EU. The same was true of those polled in Scotland.

        So, as I said, hello Sasamach, goodbye UK.

      1. Spaghetti Hoop

        I guess Sam goes into a limbo zone for 70 minutes while the title is contested, so effectively ‘comes home’ despite the short journey.
        Good job Dubs! Teamwork and management unparalleled right now.

        1. Shayna

          A belated congrats to The Dubs. A bad kick-out, a dodgy penalty and wham bam, thank-you Mr. Maguire. We’ll (Tyrone) be arais arís!

    1. Rob_G

      Apart from having the best football team, the front pages attest that we also have the best-looking foot ball team.

  2. Ollie Cromwell

    Today’s top Brexit stats.
    Brexit is now less than 5000 hours away.
    And vacancy rates in offices in the City of London remain unchanged from before the referendum.
    As you were chaps.

    1. ReproButina

      The City of London has failed to fill 1 single extra square foot of office space since the referendum? And you, poor deluded little Sasamach that you are, think this is a good thing?

      1. scottser

        Plenty of jobs going in whitehall working on brexit. A handy number by all accounts, lots of arse-scratching and reading the telegraph looking for ideas.

      2. Ollie Cromwell

        Oh dear,Beret Boy fails again.
        Lets guide him very,very slowly through the facts.
        Have you ever been to the City ? Did you ever notice all the cranes that are there ?
        Large new office buildings are springing up all the time yet the levels of vacancies remain the same as before the referendum.
        Do you see where I’m going ?
        You’re not having a great start to the week are you ?

    2. Cú Chulainn

      Dear breath old bean, remember Helmand. Couldn’t even even keep a few, what’s it you call them again – oh, yes, Rag Heads, at Bay. The Americans had to come save you. Again. Your City is just a big Cyprus. The Germans can’t believe their luck. What they couldn’t do with tanks they are about to do with banks.

      1. Ollie Cromwell

        Really ?
        The City is Europe’s investment banker.
        Half of all the debt and equity issued by the EU involves financial institutions in Britain.
        And UK asset managers oversee at least £1.7 trillion on behalf of European clients.
        And you’re chuntering on about Helmand Province ?
        I really am staggered at times by the ignorance and stupidity of some posters on here.
        I blame declining standards in third level education – no wonder there isn’t single entry from Ireland in the world’s leading 100 universities.

        1. Cú Chulainn

          Dear heart, old bean, you miss the point. Your great nation that once (tried) to march into Afghanistan can’t hold a corner of a province there now. And, you are about to witness the slow strangulation of the city. You will be left with nothing more than dodgy tax deals.

  3. paul

    I really hate agreeing with the Express but that point about aid for India has been made before and is no less relevant. I country with a space program can’t build a sewerage system for most of its cities? I believe we’re sending aid money to them as well. Absolute joke.

    I can’t find the article at the moment but I believe they were queried about it a few years ago and their foreign affairs teams response was something like ‘our poor will see our rockets launch and be inspired to pull themselves out of poverty’.

  4. Ollie Cromwell

    News just in …

    Four UK cities are in the top 20 globally and Britain remains the number one destination in Europe for foreign investment, a new report says.

    Despite warnings that a Leave vote would deter foreign investors, the report estimates a record number of jobs were created last year as a result of new money pouring in.

    The annual Global Trends report by tech giant IBM says London remains the number one city globally for direct foreign investment (FDI). Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham also saw growth and are in the top 20 globally, according to the report.

    Project Fear 2:0 is going well I see

    1. scottser

      From the FT:

      ‘Over the past two years, the economy of the rest of the EU has been growing faster than that of the UK. The commission expects that to remain the case for this year and next.

      This is not the result of any new Brexit effect on the British economy. Brussels says its forecast for the UK economy is “based on a purely technical assumption of status quo in terms of trading relations between the EU27 and the UK”, rather than any sudden change in terms of trade between the two.

      The rest of the EU also has a larger manufacturing base and a stronger export performance than the UK. This year, the UK’s exports of goods and services are expected to grow by 3.1 per cent, below the 4.5 per cent rate forecast for the EU27.’

      The UK is a drag on the EU ollie. Brexit will make the EU a little weaker but the UK will be screwed without its primary trading partner. but hey, you still have kenya and south africa, right?

      1. Ollie Cromwell

        The FT ?
        They had a front page scare story last week about Panasonic moving its Europe HQ out of the UK but failed to mention the number of job losses amounted to ……. 10 people.
        The FT has trashed its reputation because of its Project Fear coverage.

          1. Ollie Cromwell

            I read everything.
            You should try it sometimes – broaden your horizons from the Farmer’s Journal.

  5. johnny

    Over next few days/weeks I will try put up a few posts on Digicel-the starting point is really the IPO.

    Here’s what they disclosed regarding dividends to Dennis O’Brien (DOB)-Pg 52.

    This is not really ‘news’ but its worth establishing exactly how much of a cash cow for Dennis,Digi was as any further dividends are completely out the question.

    In the restructuring many claims will be made about how invaluable to Digi,DOB’s continued involvement is, but the bondholders who now own and control Digital may not think he’s the next BILLION dollar man:)

    “For the years ended March 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, the Company made total dividend payments of $40.0 million, $690.0 million and $340.0 million, respectively, which were comprised of dividend payments to holders of common shares of $21.7 million, $671.7 million and $321.7 million, respectively, and to holders of preferred shares of $18.3 million for each period. Such payments consisted of a regular quarterly dividend of $10 million (for a total of $40 million per annum), a $650 million special dividend paid in February 2014 and a $300 million special dividend paid in the quarter ended June 30, 2012.”

    Dividends to shareholders (Dennis O’Brien)
    Year ended:March 2015-$40million
    March 2014-$671.7million
    March 2013- $321.7 million

    Ancillary Fees:-related/control companies-Island Capital $29million/AC Executive Aviation Services $27million/ Sierra Support Services $68million etc

    This forms the basis for the claim/fact that will be repeated in other posts-that Dennis O’Brien has taken out over 1Billion dollars in dividends from Digicel,while driving it off a cliff and defaulting on its bonds.

    In my opinion the best analysis done on the Digital IPO was Wexboy’s,an Irish financial blogger/value investor.It was far superior to any off the MSM pieces, or ‘independent’ US analysis.

    https://wexboy.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/dcel-deniss-cash-extraction-lifeline/

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