News /
Nationalist-socialists gaining ground in Poland [24]
What a load of BS, Robinson and McAleese were both fantastic statespersons, who carried out their roles as president to the full and exact letter of the law.
They were just wallpaper presidents. Especially McAleese closing her eyes to the madness of the Bertie years. did nothing to mitigate the extent of the hubris that preceded Ireland's fall from grace.
I am also aware that the president of Ireland has very little power to change the decisions of a government, no matter how marbled with the fat of vested interests they may be. The Irish head of state may only refuse to rubber stamp legislation passed on by the Dáil if he or she feels that the legislation or amendment is fundamentally unconstitutional. However, the president has a voice. And Mary McAleese failed to raise her voice amidst the maelstrom of greed and moral decrepitude that characterised the last 14 years of political life in Ireland. As head of state, McAleese was the sole voice which would be heard above the din of cash registers and the giddy laugh of bank managers. In this respect, she failed as the president of Ireland whose role it is to represent the state of Ireland, not only to other countries, but to ourselves. Instead of being a beacon of dignity and moral direction, in her silence she remained complicit with the Fianna Fáil government whose reputation has been so damaged by its inability to provide the Irish state with any form of responsible leadership.
Some of her last remarks as Uachtaráin na hEireann were telling. Asked what advice she had for the president in waiting, Michael D. Higgins, a man whose voice has always been raised for basic human dignity and equality, McAleese sagely suggested that Michael D. should enjoy himself. Perhaps, if Mrs. McAleese stopped enjoying herself and considered the gravity of her position as the leader of a state, we might not be stuck so firmly in economic quicksand. That, however, is merely conjecture on my part. What is certain is that I would be much happier to praise our former president as a success if she had not been so pathetically quiet as Fianna Fáil ****** away our exchequer, a silence which renders her as complicit as every other Fianna Fáil politician who clung gamely on until the very end, but for whom time eventually ran out as the Irish public woke up to its sickening regime of greed, corruption, vested interests and moral blindness. A failed regime of which she was, and remains to be, the symbolic leader.
Higgins only won because of the scandal that surrounded Sean Gallagher (which have been found to be totally unfounded)
The man is a FF man/ gombeen man. Micheal D is without doubt our greatest president.
On topic, I would like to raise one thing, as I have in other threads, we get this figure of 13/14% bandied about a lot regarding unemployment, but I've shown on other forums that the real figure is actually far closer to between 5-8% that to 13%.
its over 14% and in reality much higher
The in-work poverty rate in Poland is one of the highest in the EU. ... January 2012 from PLN 1386 (€330 as of 17 April 2012) to PLN 1500 (€357), ...
In Poland, the in-work poverty rate among those with the lowest educational attainment is the highest but one in the EU (outdistanced only by Romania) and amounts to around 28%; it drops to around 12% among those with a medium level of educational attainment (Figure 2).
The in-work poverty rate in Poland is also above the EU average for:
families with children (around 14% against the EU average of 10%);
two or more adults with children (nearly 15% against the EU average of 10%).
eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/2012/02/PL1202019I.htm
eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/studies/tn0910026s/pl0910029q.htm
All those people working in car parks and suchlike - do you really think they're working with proper contracts?
What about all those people with their mixers in Ireland and England. Just look at the cement dust on their shoes as they Collect there 200 Euro a week dole and 15-20 euro an hour with their behind the scenes construction work. Compared to the guy in Poland working in a station, getting (in the hand)less than 2 euro an hour . What's the dole in Poland ? 30 euro a week..?? The two combined wouldn't pay for the rent of a one bedroom apartment. I've seen guys driving to the dole office in Ireland in their brand new jeeps.
How has Poland avoided the recession with 13% unemployment? It looks to me they never got out of it (the Recession).
exactly, the neoliberal's are great a painting over reality as they plunder.
