Bruce Arnold

Gulp.

Bought by Brussels, little Ireland’s ridiculous leaders have landed it in a Brexit crisis (Bruce Arnold, Telegraph)

Varadkar and Coveney acting like ‘fools’ over Brexit, claims Bruce Arnold (Irish Times)

Earlier: Dan Boyle: Piffle From de Pfeffel

Previously: Bruce Arnold on Broadsheet

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile…

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73 thoughts on “Bruuuce”

  1. Kolmo

    Ah, the aul “blame everyone else for our wholly predictable catastrophic no-plan brexit idiocy” plan.. or stab-in-the-back myth use by other less savoury historical characters, dangerous times.

    1. Otis Blue

      And they persist with the false narrative that they are being prevented from leaving the EU.

  4. martco

    interesting to see the panic setting in across the water

    they’re literally flailing about the place

    our media commentators & politicians need to keep their powder dry now & not get sucked into this “look at the birdys, look at the birdys” opinion based drivel being invented right in front of our eyes

    any English person I know thru work/socially knows what the facts are, down to education & life experience

    bluster & drivel & panic pants redalert times ahead!!

  6. Charger Salmons

    They do not like it up ’em Captain Mainwaring.
    For three years the Irish media has been conducting a closet racist attack on the Brits and more particularly the English.
    The tone and language of much of what has passed as analysis would have raised howls of outrage had it appeared in the British media about Ireland.
    Now at the first whiff of cordite coming back over the Irish Sea the Irish are whining like scolded children.
    Stop snivelling will you.

      1. Lilly

        I don’t read Charger’s comments often enough to spot similarities in writing style but when he mentioned a couple of days ago that he drives a Jag, I thought ‘oh an octogenarian in our midst’. Makes sense now.

        2. Rosette of Sirius

          I know, right?! When I read Jag, I read ‘badge engineered’.

          A perfect analogy for Jags, Charge Tenpence, Wiff Waff de Pfeffel and I’d go as far as say modern day Britain itself….

          I

      1. Charger Salmons

        You can against white Brits which is where a lot of the Irish media bile has been focused.
        Do try to keep up.

        2. Kolmo

          Care to provide us with any examples of this closeted anti-english racism/bile?

          Are you a troll or are you Kevin Myers/Ruth dud Edwards?

        3. scottser

          ah charger, you just want someone to call you ‘wayciss’ don’t you? i recall it being a favourite term of yours during your ‘ollie days’.

    5. GiggidyGoo

      So Boris says that there will be no discussions with Europe unless the backstop is removed, and then sends out David Frost – to discuss with Europe.
      Blinky Boris.
      rOFL

  7. class wario

    why are all the most ardent right wing people on Irish social media such big time soup takers?

    2. Spaghetti Hoop

      Begob that’s true.
      Thin line between taking an an active interest and discourse in concerned topic or just attention-seeking.

  8. Frank

    How anyone could think Varadker, Coveney Et al are doing a fine job is deluded. For three years they have beaten up the English with ‘the backstop’ and the ‘GFA’ as if these were carved in stone by Moses himself.
    A backroom deal could have been done at any point directly with Whitehall but Fine Gael have decided on an recalcitrant position with the EU. That is either the doing of Fine Gael or the EU to point blame elsewhere is daft.
    Eoghan Harris’ piece in the Independent at the weekend was spot on. This piece by Bruce Arnold likewise.
    They make for queasy reading but the truth is often hard to accept.

    1. B9Com From No

      :)

      A bit harsh. Ireland is a small open economy and historically the EU has been far more beneficial to us than the British ever were.

      We could find ourselves on the decisive side very soon

    3. Sham Bob

      Neither ‘Whitehall’ nor the Tory Parliamentary Party are full of hard-brexiteers. By that I mean those who want to leave the customs union at all costs and thereby leave us with no solution to prevent a hard border. This is only now on the table – should we have bypassed the UK cabinet and negotiated directly with Rees-Mogg and the DUP?

      1. Frank

        I think that’s the nail on the head Sham. We should have been negotiating with Rees-Mogg and the DUP because we have to do it now! or rather, the EU will do it for us.

        1. some old quare

          Interesting how it is only FG who are making these decisions while bar a few ‘diplomats’- there has been zero criticism from the rest of the Irish political establishment- where at least one has members who would love to give it a go again.

          Britain on the other hand has a government who’s ruling party are at each other’s throats like hungry dogs over a bone and intent on SUSPENDING its democratic chamber in order to force through a deal.

          Seriously?

  9. eoin

    Auld codger who no-one under 40 has heard of, but who now sits on the board of a newspaper that struggles to sell 45,000 copies a day at full price, shouts at moon. You have to love the media luvvies in the Dublin media bubble at times.

  10. Termagant

    How can anyone endorse the absolute passivity of our leadership over the past few years re: Brexit? This is one of the most important negotiations the country has faced in decades and we’re not even at the table, it’s UK v. EU while we stand some distance away making the odd snide remark. The state has abdicated all agency in favour of hoping Daddy EU will just take care of it for us.

      1. Termagant

        “They started it!” is a childish attitude to take. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, the fallout is coming down on us too so we should be involved in determining the outcome instead of sitting idle and putting our faith in some other entity to choose what’s best for us.

          1. Termagant

            We should be engaging with British leadership at every opportunity, fostering relations instead of letting them be trampled on. Diplomacy.

          2. Treasa

            Are you serious? Did the whole diplomatic snub by Boris simply pass you by? It was only last week … do try to keep up old bean!

          3. Termagant

            That’s the position our leaders have been taking for years Treasa. Why would Boris have any diplomatic goodwill towards us? All we’ve been doing for years is digging the boot in every now and then while UK and EU duke it out.

          5. ReproBertie

            That’s utter rubbish. We’re part of the EU and have been driving the EU position on protecting the all island economy from day one. The notion that we’ve been digging the boot in comes purely from the “blame the Irish” campaign that has been running in the UK since they realised they couldn’t sign up to their backstop and then just ignore it.

    2. Rob_G

      Strange that you are criticising our leaders for ‘passivity’, when all these British columnists are criticising Varadker and Coveney for actively standing up for Ireland’s interests…

      “is one of the most important negotiations the country has faced in decades and we’re not even at the table, it’s UK v. EU…”

      This how being a trading bloc works: we have common tariffs/movement of peoples’ laws, so the UK has to negotiate with the EU as a whole. Do you really think that the negotiations would go better for Ireland if the UK were table to isolate us on our own, as opposed to negotiating with us as part of giant trading bloc with a huge market, and 26 other states to back us up?

      1. Termagant

        But the EU isn’t backing us up. We’re not doing anything to warrant then having our back. The EU is negotiating for what it wants and we’re sitting on the sidelines.

        Do you think if we came out tomorrow and said we were all right with a time-limited backstop the EU would have our backs?

        2. Rob_G

          Where do you even think that the backstop issue is coming from – out of the member states of the EU, only Ireland cares about it. But because we do, the whole EU supports it.

          Same as the ‘Gibraltar as a colony’ line in the draft regulation that the Council released – probably none of the other member states particularly care about this rock, but Spain is one of us, and the UK isn’t, so we all weighed in behind Spain.

        3. ReproBertie

          Have you paid the slightest bit of attention for the last three years are were you too busy at the soup counter? Who do you think set the EU’s position on the border?

        4. Termagant

          It doesn’t matter how we in actuality feel about the border.

          If we changed how we feel about the border, do you think the EU would care? If, purely hypothetically, we came up with some solution that would work out for us and the UK, but not for the EU – do you really think the EU would hesitate to slap it down?

          1. ReproBertie

            We are the EU. We have been driving the EU negotiations through meetings with the negotiating team for months before and all through the negotiation process.

            Why would we want to work out something that works for the UK, who couldn’t care less what damage they do to our economy, but not the EU, of which we are a member? Have sense man.

      1. some old quare

        Is black and tans not a bit you know- racist?

        Then again- come out you non caucasian and badly sun burnt white people doesn’t really have the same ring to it..

      1. Papi

        Ooooooh, Charmaine is so angry! He might even storm off again if we’re lucky.
        Grow some balls, man, you’re a disgrace to racists everywhere.

  14. Begorrah, The Dream

    The biggest audience this useful, historically and politcally non-qualified, tweed windbag ever had was the poor Gardai allegedly forced to listen in to his conversations about port, wine, and the menu in the Dail restaurant. Also the most bored audience.

  15. some old quare

    Investigating people with average incomes for their professional average whom within a year or two of their their retirement become quite wealthy is not a CAB thing I suppose- especially if the second full and more pension is paid for by another state.

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