Lou Rolls In A Hurricane

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Mary Lou McDonald addressing the Dáil this afternoon

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald asked Taoiseach Leo Varadkar if the State pandemic employment payments would be extended in June, following ‘ominous’ comments made yesterday by Minister For Finance Paschal Donohoe yesterday.

Ms McDonald said cutting or tapering off these would be “wrong” and said even the idea being floated suggests that Fine Gael is “out of touch” with the lives of workers and families and those bearing the burnt of this “economic shock”.

She also added that “in the last economic crisis”, FG and FF “chose to protect the banks and the wealthy”, “that you chose to punish ordinary workers and families instead” and “they lived with the minimum wage being slashed” and “numerous cuts to child benefit”.

She referred the moves to “slash and burn policies aimed to service a debt that did not belong to the people“.

During his response,, Mr Varadkar said the payments would need to continue until people can return to their jobs and, for the vast majority of people, returning to work won’t happen by June.

“So yes, it will need to be extended beyond mid-June,” he said.

He then went on to say:

“I am sorry though that Deputy McDonald chose to become some party political in her contributions because what you said was so two-faced and so fundamentally dishonest.

My party, Fine Gael, never cut the minimum wage. Working with Labour and then Independents, we increased it by 25%, one of the highest in the world.

What is the minimum wage in Northern Ireland where Sinn Fein is in power. In this jurisdiction, a Government led by my party, introduced a pandemic unemployment payment of €350 a week. So that people who lost their jobs had some financial security.

What happened in Northern Ireland where Sinn Fein is in office? A hundred pounds a week. Nothing for the self-employed until June. And Sinn Féin ministers on their Facebook site promote the fact that they hand out food parcels to the poor.

Reminiscent to me of Donald Trump handing out toilet roll after the hurricane hit the islands in the Caribbean.”

Later

Varadkar: “…you can’t hide the fact that she’s also leader of an All-Ireland party, a party that’s in power in Northern Ireland where the minimum wage is lower than here, where you don’t give people 350 pounds a week. You hand out food parcels and boast about it on Facebook. I’d be ashamed to do something like that.

“And don’t blame it on the Tories, and don’t blame it on London. If it wasn’t for their money, it would even be worse.”

Later

Ms McDonald said she was glad to hear the Taoiseach confirm that the payments would be extended beyond June. She then asked if he’d indicate how long they would be extended and if payment amount would remain the same.

She also said that grants of 10,000 or 25,000 pounds are being made available to businesses across all sectors in the North and added:

“What has been dedicated to those efforts in the six counties is far greater than the entire 250million which is pretty miserly that’s been set out here…”

She also said she’s proud of the community work that Sinn Féin activists do across Ireland.

During his response, Mr Varadkar said no decision has yet been made on the rate of pay or the timeline of the extended payments and indicated it may be something for the next Government to decide.

He added:

“I think it’s a great thing by the way that people do provide food banks and hand out food parcels. And this Government actually funds food banks and we’ve done that for a very long time. What we don’t do is post on Facebook pictures of our ministers visiting them and handing out food to the poor…”

Fight!

More to follow.

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62 thoughts on “Lou Rolls In A Hurricane”

  1. George

    So Varadkar like Reese Mogg is proud of food banks?

    There’s nothing two faced about Mary Lou, when was she ever nice about Fine Gael or Fianna Fail’s approach to the less well off?

        1. topsy

          Possibly, but she got out because of the endemic and rampant corruption which is at the heart of FF.

          1. Ghost of Yep

            So…joined SF in 2001? I like Mary Lou and the ’98 thing was just a giggle but c’mon. SF weren’t exactly free of all baggage in ’01.

          2. Rob_G

            There were still SF election agents taking payments from Dublin inner city drug dealers at the time Mary Lou joined, so I’m not 100% sure that corruption is the reason she left FF…

          3. Cú Chulainn

            Really.. if I remember SF were being vivified for using strong arm tactics to remove the drug dealers (heroin)..

          4. Clampers Outside

            *Waves strong arm*

            These are not the drug dealers you are looking for.

          5. Cian

            SF-led Dublin Council was paying protection money for sites in the last few years.

          6. Rob_G

            @ Cú –

            Bernard Dempsey, who had been Aengus O’Snodaigh’s election agent, murdered James Curran in a crowded pub in the Liberties. Curran was murdered because he had called Dempsey out publicly for taking protection payments from the drug dealers who had destroyed that part of the inner city.

    2. Andrew

      Bernard Dempsey was leader of CPAD in the south inner city. At the same time pocketing drug money.He shot James curran in the back of the head.

  2. V-19

    What we don’t do is post on Facebook pictures of our ministers visiting them and handing out food to the poor…”

    says the lad that tweets pictures of himself filling a dishwasher

    feel free to add

    1. Rob_G

      Maybe that photo of the Sinn Féin MP with a Kingsmill loaf of bread on his head was a publicity shot for a foodbank, and not a dogwhistle celebration of the murder of 10 workers.

          1. Rob_G

            oh, quite many. I’m not sure what that has to do with Mary Lou’s cheerleading for terrorism, though.

          2. Know Man Is An Island

            So only your allowed take cheap shots, is that the way this game works?

          3. Rob_G

            I’m not sure who is taking cheap shots – I published a photo from MLM’s own Twitter feed, I don’t think she is keeping it a secret. You posted the that SF took seats of FG in the election (which they surely did); I’m just not certain that I see the link between the two.

  3. Clampers Outside

    Well that was a poor show from ML, in fairness. Been itching for a gripe for a while, but that was quashed swiftly with the facts of the situation whether ya like either the Taoiseach or ML, or not.
    I hope for better quality poo throwing next time, as that was useless.

  4. Rob_G

    MLM is schooled, yet again.

    SF’s public pronouncements and their actual legislative actions are so inconsistent, you don’t need to be Lord Palmerston to lay them bare as being hypocrites.

    Down here it’s all “support our frontline workers” platitudes, whereas in Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin have just voted to layoff council workers, and paycuts for nurses from Michelle O’Neill when she was last Minister for Health.

    1. Frank

      are you more pleased that Mary Lou got ‘schooled’ or that Varadkar failed to answer her question by pointing at a squirrel up a tree.

      1. Rob_G

        I thought he had responded –

        “So yes, it will need to be extended beyond mid-June,” he said.

        BS have even bolded it for you, I’m not sure how you missed it.

        1. Frank

          you didn’t answer my question Rob. much like he didn’t answer her question.

  5. Art Vandelay

    Glad to see Leo is back to his true bellend self that people voted for in the election after pretending he’s a real human over the last 2 months.

  6. Frank

    I’m more interested in what happens in the Republic of Ireland than what happens in the United Kingdom.
    Varadkars tired old magicians trick of ‘look over there, dont look too closely here’ is as jaded as ‘sure you were in the IRA’.

    1. Rob_G

      Well, Sinn Féin is an all-Ireland party, as they never tire of telling us. Bit hypocritical for Mary-Lou to be having a go at Leo for for the €350 a week COVID social welfare payment down here, while in the North, where the party that she leads is actually in government, people similarly affected make-do on €80 a week.

        1. Rob_G

          Yes I do.

          Sinn Féin operate in both countries, their actions in one jurisdiction are completely at odds with their actions in the other – they are hypocrites.

      2. GiggidyGoo

        The Rob_G old lemon once again. The Northern Ireland finances are controlled by Westminster. SF or Arlene’s crowd are told where it’s to be spent.
        Talking rot subtracts more votes from FG. Will you ever learn?

        1. Rob_G

          What a handy get-out-of-jail-free card.

          Did Westminster force SF to layoff those 73 council workers in Newtownabbey?

          I don’t know if you’ve seen the news Giggidy, but Leo’s approval ratings are through the roof, it would take a lot more than me talking rot to put the brakes on the Varadtrain.

          1. Rob_G

            5th(?)

            He’s flying at the minute; given he performed so poorly in the election, his 35% approval rating must mean that some SF voters have seen the light.

    2. JEH

      It’s also not a like-for-like comparison since it’s another country subject to different budgets, financial constraints, and economic conditions. It would make almost as much sense as making comparisons to Italy or Germany.

      1. Cian

        Would it be fair to compare, say, Green party policies in Italy with Germany or Ireland? And if they were totally at odds with each other would it be fair to say the Greens were being hypocritical?

        2. Clampers Outside

          We’re into graduations of hypocrisy now Ted.

          “Could you show me a metre?” *
          .
          .
          .
          * v old skool ad reference thrown in for the fun.

    3. MaryLou's ArmaLite

      I’d prefer his tired old truck to SF/IRAs tired old trick of punishment beatings, bombings and murder.

      Remember a vote for SF/IRA is a vote for murder.

      1. Know Man Is An Island

        Regall to me how many seats SF pilfered from FG in the last GE?

      2. GiggidyGoo

        Remember a vote for FG is a vote to rejoin the commonwealth. It’s also a vote for DUP/UDA who take pride of place at the FG Ard Fheis.

          1. Know Man Is An Island (no more username changes please)

            this is my only username from now on

  10. A Person

    Go on Goo and Eamonn, get in here, and moan again. Your “leader” complaining about welfare payments when people are dying, yet, your real leadership in the North is paying less than half the welfare payments in Ireland. But you won the election…….you’ll never win again.

  11. A Person

    Go on Goo and Eamonn, get in here, and moan again. Your “leader” complaining about welfare payments when people are dying, yet, your real leadership in the North is paying less than half the welfare payments in Ireland. But you won the election…….you’ll never win again. Why? Because you have no clue of economics.

    1. Rosette of Sirius

      It’s what they do best. When someone from the faithful makes a tit of themselves or something gets a bit hot to handle, they go to ground and like all well practices sharpshooters, snipe from the tall grass. Things that make you go BOOM, eh?!

      1. GiggidyGoo

        Calm down Rosette. Nurse will attend to you after A Thingy. (Serious cases first)

  12. Basque frog

    Wow. Having read the comments before the actual news-item, i am flabbergasted at the poverty of the analysis.
    I’m signing off.

    1. class wario

      Varadkar could’ve recited the alphabet backwards at her and Rob, A “Person” et al would be in here saying how she was schooled, destroyed, etc

      2. Rob_G

        How do you feel it went for MLM yourself, Wario? Come on now, we’re dying to hear your insight.

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