95 thoughts on “Thursday’s Papers

  1. ReproBertie

    One might imagine that the biggest issue facing Britain’s tea boy Taoiseach is the ongoing pandemic and the impact it is having on the UK economy. Or perhaps the talks with the EU which are rapidly counting down to a no-deal Sasamach that Britain is woefully unprepared for. Or maybe even the imminent departure of a Sasamach ally from the Oval Office.

    One would be wrong. The biggest issue facing Britain’s tea boy Taoiseach is a spat among aides in No. 10 over who gets to have direct access. What a disappointingly predictable farce.

    1. scottser

      I didn’t want to laugh, but you know Tories – they’re never funnier than when they turn on each other.

    2. Charger Salmons

      Small beer compared to a No Confidence vote in a coalition leader for leaking sensitive material, a judge facing impeachment for refusing to resign and the Taoiseach becoming an international embarrassment for inventing a ‘phone call with the US President-Elect.
      All within 24 hours.
      Heh x open goal.

      1. ReproBertie

        Standard “Never mind that thing, look at this thing” response from the Chancellor of Whataboutery.

        1. ReproBertie

          “One of the major aims of the legislation is to reduce the attractiveness of alcohol to children and young people.”

          Because nothing reduces attractiveness like hiding away and creating an air of mystery. Total and utter madness indeed.

          1. Janet, dreams of a steamed clootie

            +massive one
            not to harp on but french kids are allowed a mouthful of wine to taste, they don’t usually like it, it’s not a big deal and as adults manage the one glass with lunch, it’s no biggy

          2. millie

            Have to agree Jan. My parents adopted the French attitude when it came to drink and from age 11 or so I’d be allowed to have a small glass of wine watered down on Sunday at dinner. I think I’ve a much healthier attitude to alcohol than some of my friends, whose parents had a slightly stricter view.

          3. ReproBertie

            I don’t know who thinks we’ll change attitudes to alcohol by hiding it away. This limited access policy hasn’t worked for the past 50 years and doubling down on it won’t make it suddenly effective. Maybe we could try treating people like adults and have a grown up approach to alcohol.

          4. Junkface

            I think children get their attitudes from the adults around them, be it parents, older siblings, relatives or their parents friends. I don’t think its visibility in the supermarket.

            Neither of my parents drink and I still managed to sneak off with friends at 13 years old (inspired by my friends older brothers gang), get booze, have a big giggle, make myself terribly sick as we had too much, and puked a lot.

            It put me off drinking for 3 or 4 years then.

          5. Janet, dreams of a steamed clootie

            My Mum’s T total and Dad seldom went for a pint, there was never alcohol in the house, it didn’t stop me polishing off the communion port in church :) Kids like to get into things they are told not to.

          6. Micko

            Does anyone know if the Gov has ripped off this idea from another country?

            As absolutely ridiculous as it is, it seems too novel to be something they came up with themselves.

          7. GiggidyGoo

            Exactly. On top of that, if parents are in doing their shopping in a large supermarket and have their kids with them, and they want to buy alcohol, the kids will accompany them anyway into the aisle

          8. Cian

            Maybe we could try treating people like adults and have a grown up approach to alcohol.

            I think the problem is that the adults (in Ireland) don’t have a good approach to alcohol.

        2. Charger Salmons

          This in a country that insists on a photo-op involving a pint of Guinness with every visiting president, head of state or foreign dignitary.
          Yet kiddies must have their eyes sheltered from the demon drink.
          Ireland is slowly returning to the dark ages of puritanism with the total acquiescence of its docile population.

  2. Johnny

    This is the end, beautiful friend
    This is the end, my only friend
    The end of our elaborate plans
    The end of ev’rything that stands
    The end

    Jim Morrisson.

    …The largest law firm representing the Trump campaign or its allies in post-election litigation challenging votes in key states has withdrawn from an election lawsuit in Maricopa County, Arizona…

    ouch!

    Snell & Wilmer received more than $770,000 from the RNC.

    they withdrew today.

    https://today.westlaw.com/Document/Ief147bd0247611eb8dfbdfeb7526f5c7/View/FullText.html?transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

      1. Junkface

        Haha! I love the continued incompetence of everyone around Trump. Yes, many reporters went through every single fraud accusation yesterday and not one was considered valid or important enough, even if found to be true to change the vote numbers in Trump’s favour in any state. Mathematically, his team of lawyers are way off. Seems like he really did pull this notion from his A-hole and all of the senior republicans supporting him are just afraid of opposing a cult. Surprise!

        Stable genius

        1. SOQ

          The fraud accusations have for the most part not been gathered as yet because swearing affidavits is only the start. Every legal case takes time to build and these are no different.

          One of the most interesting developments in this myriad of legal actions is the claim that a number of whistler blowers connected to the software house have come forward. Whether that is bluff or not remains to be seen but- if true, could be a serious game changer.

      1. GiggidyGoo

        Maybe we’ll have an effect on them :-)

        Notice the Cian lad wasn’t out of the traps first today? The overtime for the last week ran out and the SCU boyos reckon the distraction/diversion was worth the extra dosh. I wonder did they even read his posts?

        There was a poster here a few months ago who could give the hit rate on the Broadsheet website, and various other statistics which showed the site was one of the busiest.

        1. MME

          GiggidyGoo up (notes time) and wired. Drowning in conspiracy theories and boggle-eyed “sleuthing”.

          My work here is done!

          Mwahahaha!

          What can I say, I’m like catnip for Giggidy.

          Be warned Giggidy – you are the SCU No. 1 Shinnerbot target- because you matter. Such keyboard bashing stamina. We can’t keep up!

          Damn you. ;-)

          1. MME

            Hehehehe! This is panto-realness.

            He’s behind you Giggidy…

            Oh no he isn’t…

            Oh yes, he is!

            Don’t look under your bed, SCU bogeyman are everywhere…

            What da fluic and I saying, you haven’t seen your bed in weeks, if not months!

            As I say, catnip.

  3. Brother Barnabas

    lee cain’s resignation is unfortunate for cummings. will ultimately lead to departure of cummings himself, which, genuinely, will be to the detriment of everyone- UK, EU and Ireland too

    1. Charger Salmons

      It seems your earlier predictions about Dom’s departure were more prescient than I thought.
      I hadn’t factored the missus into the equation.
      But you’re wasting your time trying to explain his relevance to this crowd.
      They’d be more impressed with stories about a moving statue.

      1. Brother Barnabas

        I hadn’t anticipated her role in this; not sure about it either. anyone who shakes things up will make enemies – cummings has plenty, which was bearable when johnson had his back – that’s less and less the case these days.

      2. Joe F

        Not too hot on the predictions are we old boy??
        You’re very quiet on Trumps embarrassing carry on at the moment. If it was some other people carrying on like that you wouldn’t think twice about bleating on about it here. Quite fond of the old standards old sport.

      3. ReproBertie

        It must do the Sasamach’s hearts good to know they voted to get away from unelected bureaucrats only to have key appointments in No. 10 decided by the tea-boy Taoiseach’s current squeeze.

          1. ReproBertie

            You know I’ve been predicting a border in the Irish Sea from day one. Is trotting out that old fantasy really the best you can do? This No 10 fiasco must be hitting you hard.

          2. Brother Barnabas

            that’s what cummings has privately been pushing for since day 1. and he had johnson with him on that. they couldnt care less about NI – and know that’s its economically nonsensical to make it a red line issue in negotiations. there are single buildings in London that contribute more to the british economy than NI. only issue was how to manoeuvre it without overly inflaming arlene and the loonies. turns out though that tory backbench resistance is more than anticipated. and it’s going gung-ho after cummings. and johnson is wavering. without cummings, itll be a no-deal brexit. to everyone’s detriment.

          3. Junkface

            Is Brexit actually happening? Seems to be falling apart over time.

            Brexit was an idea from a bunch of deluded Eton toffs. Brexit was never a plan in reality. They are trying to make it a reality now, only now! John Major was right in saying it will make Britain less relevant strategically, disconnected from EU, Britain is no longer the bridge to the EU that the USA once needed.

            Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

          4. Otis Blue

            Brexit has already happened. It’s done. The current talks are about the terms under which the EU and Britain access each other’s markets.

          5. Charger Salmons

            No-one on the mainland cares about Ireland north or south Brother you should know that.
            We’d give you the North tomorrow but you couldn’t afford it.
            That’s if the Catholics up there would even want to be part of a banana republic.
            Most English people would be happy if the Scottish shoved off too now we’ve just about emptied the North Sea of its oil.
            England is the engine room of the UK, specifically the South East.
            It was the beating heart of the Empire too.
            We once ran the entire Indian sub-continent with 65 civil servants operating out of a single building in Whitehall.
            Brexit will be a walk in the park by comparison.

          6. Brother Barnabas

            well if everyone is that apathetic towards NI, it’s a mystery why so many have their panties in a twist over the backstop

          7. ReproBertie

            “We once ran the entire Indian sub-continent with 65 civil servants operating out of a single building in Whitehall.”
            How did that work out? You weren’t even born when the Indian Independence Act was passed which just shows how far back these glories you cling to were.

          8. Charger Salmons

            Have you ever read a history book Begorrah ?
            Amazing things you can find in them like facts and stuff …

          9. ReproBertie

            History books make up about half my reading material. Having just finished Nigel Steel and Peter Hart’s “Jutland 1916” (A distant relative took part in the battle) I’ve moved on to Edward Roe’s “Diary of an Old Contemptible: From Mons to Baghdad, 1914-1919” and I have a 1947 copy of M. J. McManus’ biography of Eamon deValera lined for after that.

            As it happens, 1947 was the year that India became independent. All this reading allows me to differentiate between the past and the present, something you might give a try.

          10. GiggidyGoo

            “England is the engine room of the UK, specifically the South East.”

            So much so, that Kent will now be the biggest truck park in the world, requiring a permit to enter the county. They’ll be going for independence soon I suppose.

          1. bisted

            …bungling Boris will have written several versions of his excuses but they will all have the same theme…it’s brexit, just not as you expected…lets call it a Schrodinger brexit…

  4. Toby

    When the IRA famously beat the British Army out of Northern Ireland, creating division in Downing St was one o their most successful ploys. By attacking the Square Mile and threatening its economic viability, they split the Tories down the middle. Eventually John Major chose the peace road on the advice of the bankers. Now the same tension between security and economy is dividing Downing St. Poor Maggie must be turning in her grave at the incompetence of her spawn.

      1. Toby

        A chastened bunch of beaten, malnourished and demoralised losers. Their dead eyes revealing their confusions.

        This was the straw that broke your back. A few of decades ago, you enjoyed power, position respect. Since the IRA beat you, you are reduced to division, defeat and more worryingly irrelevance.

        1. Charger Salmons

          Let’s see now.
          No united Ireland – check
          No Republican First Minister – check
          No border poll – check
          IRA decomissioned its arms – check
          British troops still in NI barracks – check
          Nothing has changed in 30 years – check
          Some victory for the drug dealers and bank robbers.
          Heh,heh,heh.

          1. ReproBertie

            “Nothing has changed in 30 years”
            That bit isn’t true. Not many children are harassed at gun point by British soldiers on their way to or from school these days for one. (Just to be clear, though the squaddies were young, it was the children that were travelling to or from school.) There’s not so much bombing going on for another.

          2. Toby

            Yes, you get an annual bill for billions to keep a place you don’t want full of people who hate you. Good result!

            Take your beating like a good boy.

    1. ReproBertie

      “When the IRA famously beat the British Army out of Northern Ireland”
      By calling a ceasefire and offering their weapons up for inspection? Where are you getting your history from?

      1. Toby

        Of course they did. Where are the check points? Where are the marauding troops on the streets? Where are the internment camps? Gone!! Gone because the IRA rightly attacked a colonial force and showed them that there would be no compromise on liberty, independence and nationhood.

        The humbled British army withdrew their troops and Britain has never really recovered. Hence her mess today with the whole union falling apart.

        When that had been achieved. The IRA rightly decommissioned their weapons.

        1. ReproBertie

          All the achievements and progress made in Northern Ireland happened because the IRA gave up the armed struggle and sat down to talk.

          1. Toby

            No. They happened because the IRA refused to cower to colonial bullies and met force with force. Sometimes its the only way for minorities to effect change.

          2. Charger Salmons

            Of course Begorrah we agree on the really serious stuff.
            Unliked Beret Boy here and the other deluded Shinnerbots who have become the Black Knights of NI politics.
            Just a flesh wound …

          3. ReproBertie

            You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts. They fought for decades and achieved nothing. Then they put the guns down.

          4. Toby

            They achieved nothing? What kind of revisionist, blinkered West Brit opinion is that. If you were a marginalised nationalist, a Gaelic Ulsterman, a nationalist Irish person or someone who cared about independence, sovereignty, freedom and geographical integrity- you would see they gained a huge amount.

            Thats why they ar rightly lauded around the world as the most successful terrorist army in history.

          5. Charger Salmons

            The IRA ” gained ” power-sharing which was exactly what they always had.
            And then they walked away from that too while they tried to cover up widespread pedophilia and sex abuse in their upper ranks.
            Today they’re about as relevant as a Wolfe Tones cassette.
            But thanks for the lols Beret Boy.

          6. ReproBertie

            What improvements to the lives of Northern Nationalists came about directly because of an IRA bomb or bullet? The internment camps? The checkpoints? The daily harassment of innocent civilians by British military personnel? The often degrading treatment of Irish citizens when they travelled to the UK? Please, do enlighten me on the great successes the IRA achieved through force in Northern Ireland.

          7. Toby

            I have no idea what country you’ve been living in a chara, but its obviously one that was well away from the reality of Northern Ireland during the troubles. We have a long history in the South of ignoring, belittling or downright revising northern history. Just as Charger and yourselves are doing now.

            The IRA had huge support in this country because they saw that a small bunch of rebels could tame an empire and bring equality to their people.

          8. ReproBertie

            I don’t see a list of IRA successes achieved through force in that post. Just more wistful raiméis about a campaign of violence that was roundly rejected by a majority of Irish citizens North and South of the border.

            Would you like to try again?

        2. Rob_G

          “The humbled British army withdrew their troops” – you can literally go on google maps and find all the British Army bases still in Northern Ireland… hell, depending on where in the country you live, you can probably drive to one within a couple of hours.

          Have you been hanging out with Johnny and Giggidy?

          1. Toby

            They withdrew back to their barracks. Out of sight. Hiding. Defeated.

            They are not murdering, torturing, interning, harassing people on the streets. Because the IRA stood up to them, and like all bullies, they crumble.

            They left a horrible legacy of division, poverty, ill health and neglect, but we will rebuild now that their reign of oppression has come to an end.

    1. Lilly

      ‘Applicants for the research roles in Leo Varadkar’s party are asked to write a “detailed briefing paper” highlighting Sinn Féin’s weaknesses.’

      Who has time to write a ‘detailed briefing paper’ for free? Organisations that expect people to do assignments before offering them paid employment are best avoided IMO. Insidious practice.

    2. MME

      Maybe you should apply Giggidy!

      A boggle-eyed Shinnerbot taking FG down from the inside.

      Glorious.

      And you could still claim to “keep the country running while you morons sleep”.

      I expect a good riposte to this MME catnip.

  5. Charger Salmons

    Meanwhile the Belfast Newsletter reports that SF’s Michelle O’Neill blames the DUP for blocking Covid-19 proposals designed to ‘save lives’.
    ” The Coronavirus doesn’t recognise or respect any community, it is a threat to all our people.”
    This would be the same Michelle O’Neill who was centre stage at IRA thug Bobby Storey’s huge funeral.

    http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/michelle-oneill-blames-dup-blocking-proposals-designed-save-lives-3032418

  6. Charger Salmons

    Meanwhile, in defence news, Germany has ordered 38 Typhoons jet fighters for the Luftwaffe which will safeguard 15,000 British jobs at BAE and Rolls-Royce and generate £1.3bn of work in the UK.
    Marvellous ?
    Jawohl !

  7. GiggidyGoo

    https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fine-gael-calls-for-crackdown-on-what-it-feels-is-sinn-feins-exploitation-of-donations-loophole-39722818.html

    Says Barry Ward – the guy who claimed €10,000+ from Dunlaoire/Rathdown Council for 3rd level college course that he wasn’t entitled to.

    From the same newspaper a while ago (the Indo 27/9/2012) …..
    “Mr Ward, a Fine Gael councillor and practising barrister, received over €10,000 to pay for an MA course in economic policy at Trinity College.
    His council colleague, Fianna Fail politician Cormac Devlin, received €9,200 for a BA course in public management over a five-year period at the Institute of Public Administration.
    Mr Devlin’s sum included €910 for repeating exams. Mr Devlin paid back the money for the repeat fees after a request from the county council.
    Councillors are allowed to claim expenses for training and attendance at conferences or seminars.
    However, according to SIPO, legislation does not allow for councillors to claim the cost of third-level degree courses.”

    My oh my. The irony. Was it paid back?

  8. GiggidyGoo

    And, of course, you couldn’t make this up (ok…you could, if you’re FFGr. You thought Trump was bad?)

    https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1326897771836792833

    FFG have proposed appointment of Geraldine Feeney, ex-FF senator, to the board of public standards watchdog SIPO. Feeney more recently worked as a lobbyist for NAGP.

    Feeney would therefore become a member of SIPO which will investigate Paul Murphy’s complaint into Varadkar’s leak of the Confidential IMO document with the NAGP.

    1. Papi

      Wot? No racism? At least throw in a Paddy or something, else real people won’t know it’s you.
      All for a bit of fun, eh, guvnor?

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