Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from Jaggers (see all)

Jaggers has commented 187 times (0 in the last month).

1. Comment on Leinster Says No
   on 20 February 2010 at 7:15 pm

   Well in 2012, FG are likely to be the biggest party and a coalition with Labour would see them in Govt. The Greens are, like fossil fuels, diminishing rapidly in the polls. However if NAMA and the general economic recovery are competently handled, FF may be forgiven and FG may get flak for being a fairly ineffective Opposition (despite their substantial mandate and their present leads in the polls). Then the prospect of a FF and SF coalition does indeed become a prospect – FF, “The Republican Party” and SF, yes they are closely related at that level but their economic and social principles might be a shade too different, mind you the same might have been said of the Greens.
   With SF in government with FF, it wouldn’t be long before FF were fielding candidates in the North.
   Staging posts indeed….

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2. Comment on Willie O’Dea resigns as Irish Defence Minister
   on 19 February 2010 at 5:05 am

   Pippakin, who is in charge of the Assembly – Marty or Pete?

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3. Comment on Willie O’Dea resigns as Irish Defence Minister
   on 19 February 2010 at 4:48 am

   As I found myself two rows behind Enda Kenny at about 8.45pm this evening at the BT Centre, St Pauls, London at the inaugural London Irish Business Society presentation which dealt with NAMA, one of Enda’s lackeys handed him a blackberry message with what appeared to be confirmation of Willie’s resignation, and though I only caught half of Enda’s face there seemed to be some intense satisfaction with the news and a degree of distraction when Enda answered one or two questions from the audience a couple of moments later.
   I came away thinking again what a shame it was that politics at this particular juncture in Ireland was so partisan and well…. political. We should have a unity government to deal with the crisis and instead Enda is continuing the line of fairly ineffective harrying of the govt. A shame and Enda may live to regret it if NAMA is perceived to be not a total failure.

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4. Comment on Nesbitt resigns from Victims’ Commission to run in General Election
   on 17 February 2010 at 11:51 pm

   GEF, a decade has elapsed, the world has moved on. The peace process has bedded in, SF are the biggest nationalist party, the IRA has decommissioned. Are seriously are the differences between SF and the SDLP in 2010 greater than the differences between TUV – UCUNF – DUP. The Belfast Telegraph did a poll in which 63% of Protestants wanted a unionist pact – I wonder what a poll of Catholics would say in respect of a nationalist pact in 2010. By the way if there is no pact on the nationalist side and there is on the unionist side, then goodbye South Belfast.

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5. Comment on “and I intend to get therapy.”
   on 17 February 2010 at 9:04 pm

   Ah, I thought it was the “terrorist past” aspect for which you primarily wanted to see repentance, which is a call I’ve heard elsewhere. But for you for that alleged aspect (dogs in the street have been known to be wrong), an admission in an media interview that he was a member of the IRA and a description of his activity in the IRA would be sufficient to say draw a line under it?

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6. Comment on Nesbitt resigns from Victims’ Commission to run in General Election
   on 17 February 2010 at 8:16 pm

   Marlaghman

   One short way to make a bad name for herself is see seats cut from 3 to 2 in the Westminster election as South Belfast would go back to one of the unionist parties if there is a three way pact.

   One short way to bolster her position would be to maintain South Belfast and take North Belfast in addition in return for East Londonderry becoming a SF seat (and FST being preserved as a SF seat).

   What are the obstacles in sitting down and getting this done. They’re surely not as challenging as those with TUV-UCUNF-DUP.

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7. Comment on “and I intend to get therapy.”
   on 17 February 2010 at 7:59 pm

   Marlaghman

   “He may say what his views are on Jesus but before he can walk with him he needs to repent and confess his sins to God and also to all the victims/survivors in Northern Ireland.”

   I suspect your view is shared by more than a few people but I wanted to ask you what you mean by “repent and confess his sins”. As a Catholic, he would normally confess sins to a priest but that’s a private affair.

   Pat Robertson and Jim Bakker made famous TV confessions in the past – is this what you mean? Even further back, people used to go around self-flagelatting or wear sackcloth, horsehair shifts and the like. I don’t mean to be flippant but that’s what religious repentance looked like years ago.

   What do you mean and what actions do you think would be required to satisfy the “confess and repent” demands which as I say come from more than a few people?

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8. Comment on Nesbitt resigns from Victims’ Commission to run in General Election
   on 17 February 2010 at 7:50 pm

   Sorry that this is somewhat off-topic though it is related to the forthcoming election. Are we not going to talk about Jim Allister’s pronouncements (and the BBC’s ‘thinking’) on the forthcoming Westminster elections

   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8512717.stm

   So Jim appears not to want to split the unionist vote in ‘nationalist’ seats, and also wants a pact for FST. 63% of Protestants want a DUP/UCUNF pact.

   So if unionists get maximum co-operation amongst TUV, DUP, UNUCF, they will go from 10 Westminster seats to 12.

   Isn’t it about time that SF and SDLP woke up – pacts between them would see their seats go from 8 to 10 (East Londonderry and North Belfast being the new ones). Are the SDLP differences with SF as wide as those between TUV – DUP – UNUCF?

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9. Comment on “and I intend to get therapy.”
   on 17 February 2010 at 7:15 pm

   What’s the implication? That Gerry’s a nutcase? Or that events in the past forty years should have been enough of a prompt for therapy decades ago? To deal with and maintain family relationships with Aine or Liam may indeed require therapy, not just some friendly advice, personal or professional. Personally I think the post stigmatises people facing difficult personal trauma, get over it, this is 2010 and therapy is seen as being as good for the mind as the gym is for the body. Do people even know what therapy is? Didn’t it used to be electroshock therapy? These days it’s probably congitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or similar and is seen as an effective way to cope with and deal with personal issues like sexual abuse in your family.

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10. Comment on Enda breasts another leadership crisis…
    on 15 February 2010 at 3:33 pm

    Mack, if you’re still reading … In 2004 there was controversy about an Irish law restricting the maximum size of a retail outlet to 6,000 m2. IKEA’s plan to build a much larger store in Dublin caused the law to be put up for debate. The law was changed to remove the size limit for retail outlets selling durable goods in designated areas.[55] The Minister for the Environment was criticized for allegedly changing the law to suit one company and other agencies protested the law change as damaging to small businesses while the government defended their decision stating that the move was a positive one for Irish consumers. IKEA Dublin has since opened on 27 July 2009. [from wiki]

    If you look at Tesco, it is only the Tesco Extra stores (which make up 6% of the total of Tesco stores, though by square footage they make up 40%) that are on average over 6000 m2 (the average is 6625 m2). It’s difficult on a day like today to support Tesco where Tesco are being reported as having demanded €500,000 from Irish suppliers for the right for their (the Irish suppliers) goods to be sold in Tesco stores. You say the restriction is hampering competition in the State – in what particular circumstances?

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