“We are being run by maaad people in Brussels” he opined, as property developer, Harry Crosbie, made a beeline towards him to pledge his support.
“Maaad people in Brussels”. Is that right, Gaybo? Well, there's me thinking we were run by maaad people in Ireland – run into the ground. Don’t go blaming the EU for the mess our dodgy political class, their developer/builder cronies and the fools who voted for them, made of the country.
It was not the EU who introduced the tax shelters and incentives and kept them going right through the property boom years. It was not the EU who cut capital gains tax from 40% to 20% after we joined the Euro. It was not the EU swarming like files around shit at every new apartment launch in a bid to get further and further into debt.
Sure Gay, it can't have been nice watching your bank shares plummet and your pension take a hit - but maybe you should direct your bile at targets other than the EU? Your own bad decisions perhaps? Speaking of which – don’t run for president... the whole thing is an awful enough joke as it is.
Sure, the idiot Irish public might well vote you in – which, in itself, speaks volumes - but it really would be a bad idea. Just enjoy your retirement, and let us enjoy it too.
It might be more frugal than you anticipated, but you’ll still be better off than many.
Next up: Dana's presidential bid.
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19 comments:
Gay Byrne says in his biography he always voted FF. But 40%of people (inc. self) .would still vote Norris. There is a campaign to get him to re-consider www.wewantnorris.ie The result will twist many times before the end.- we have a choice of 2 Gays- and Still not the one people wanted.
Incredible hypocrisy - smears saying ‘we must show the country is not soft on child abuse’ etc- When was David Norris Ever soft on child abuse?? YET appalling things are Casually accepted.
EG , in the late 90's Liam O' Murchu ( when the extent of the Artane home abuse came out- said’ Sure what Did people expect celibate young men to do!!' he was then deputy head of RTE- state broadcaster.
He ’d have been Sacked in any other country.
YET indignant people of this hypocritical and gutless nation don’t call for Catholic schools to be moved to state control, because how can a church that lies and cared little for victims be trusted ? SO much hypocrisy- even Irish social workers who did not remove children from homes where they were raped, as they refused to acknowledge this went on in Irish Catholic homes etc.
We all would stand by some one we care for who’s accused of a crime…I have a friend who had a relative in prison for a crime he was forced into, mercifully he was not jailed for long.
(BTW several times in my life I have been close to victims of child sexual abuse, male and female victims. I have deeper knowledge than most of the long term damage it does. )
'Statutory rape' can be a very unfortunate term. It does look as though Ezra Nawi was unfairly treated .And he went to prison, so what more can you say in terms of atonement? The victim wanted sex, misled as to his age, and did not even want to testify when all this came to light 5 yrs later.
I signed the petition asking Norris to re-consider. I believe he was the victim of a smear campaign. If this had all come to light 1 year ago, all would be calm now.
If he does re-consider, if his Dail colleagues can break from the herd and nominate him, then I can assure him a number one vote . BUT still this country has a Lot of growing up to do.
Norris was going to highlight mental health organisations- woefully neglected.
Gay Byrne will hand the people an easy lie, that they Want to believe--’ none of this mess is your fault’ GROAN.
This is surreal. Kafkaesque. I'm sure Mr Byrne is an extremely nice, sincere and genuine guy and of a wiser and in some ways more sensible generation, but nevertheless, an individual that made his name dealing with some difficult issues. Ok so what's the most logical route for him to take, running the consumer agency? Maybe a patients advocacy group? No, he's standing for the most constrained and restricted job on the planet. Baffling, but as it's Ireland the absence of logic is considered admirable.
That's shocking about O'Murchu, Anna. I hadn't heard that. Good old RTE.
I agree about Norris - thing is, I can't see him getting the nominations now, whatever about before. Here's that link again anyway. www.wewantnorris.ie
I think Gaybo should retire gracefully, Dakota - he'll be more comfortable than most on his RTE pension, I assume. You'd think it might be possible for a credible candidate to emerge, but we really are on "b" list territory with this lot. Logic? Wassat?
It speaks volumes about the Irish presidency that an entertainer might be a suitable candidate. "Cue music....and now from Aras an Uachtarain...."
Maybe they could ditch Amran... Amradh na ... The Soldier's Song and replace with the "Whom it Concerns" intro as Gay walks down the carpet to greet a foreign dignitary?
At first it may seem to be benign and foolish to even consider Gay Byrne and the Eurovision singer winner Dana to be the President of Ireland, but it is not as foolish as it may initially appear.
All Irish people know that Fianna Fail is the political wing of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and Byrne and Dana are strong advocates of Roman Catholic right wing ideology. Therefore the aspirations of the Knights of Columbanus and The Legion of Mary are never far away.
Idiotic Gay Byrne reputedly lost lots of money through careless investment, but that is life for all of us. Whilst I deplore snobbery and class distinction of any sort, I would not want inarticulate persons with ‘vowel' trouble to represent Ireland. We need an academic, multi lingual, intellectually objective person regardless of religion to speak for Ireland, on the world stage.
If Ireland does choose (as it might)to rejoin the 'Sterling Area' (by referendum) and to become a United Ireland within the United Kingdom (like Scotland), then we do not want Catholic right wing bigots or old “has been’s” to get in the way. Remember, when your child is starving and when the bank is foreclosing on your mortgage, and the air is full of hopelessness, the concepts of 1916 and 1921 are of little use to anyone. The people of Durham might be much better off that the people of Dublin.
DBMG
The day of the ignorant Irish slíbhín must end. Those untrustworthy, cunning rascals who wanted to make the Irish language, Gaelic compulsory and have every aspect of Irish life returned to the Roman Catholic dominated tyranny (beating, buggery) and religious instillation of doubt and fear ( the fire of hell and excommunication) must never be allowed to corrupt the people of Ireland again. Let the people practice religion in the same way as one would practice other superstitions like astrology and palmistry, but never again should such superstitions and empty political ideologies be allowed to flourish in the way that [has been] ‘old lags’ like Gay Byrne and Dana would want. NEVER!
TO Whom it concerns - you can roll it there Colette...
When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A pint of plain is your only man.
When money’s tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A pint of plain is your only man.
When health is bad and your heart feels strange,
And your face is pale and wan,
When doctors say you need a change,
A pint of plain is your only man.
When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan,
When hunger grows as your meals are rare -
A pint of plain is your only man.
In time of trouble and lousey strife,
You have still got a darlint plan
You still can turn to a brighter life -
A pint of plain is your only man.
Bottoms up from PB
Excuse me but, mad bastards and cunning bastards are not the same thing. The mad bastards are the ones who got stuffed and the cunning bastards are the ones who did the stuffing. I think the mad Irish (the people) are about to be stuffed again by the cunning Irish (the Catholic Church and by Fianna Fail).
@ DBMG. Much as I dislke Gay Byrne, DB, I'd still draw a distinction between him and Dana. He is positively progessive in comparison with the Derry warbler, who will be the subject of the next blog post.
@ Ponyboy. Ah, the workin' man's poet, Jem Casey! No time for flowers or any of that soft stuff. The real stuff, the hard stuff, that's what Jem is about. I think he's a bit of a pisstake on Sean O'C.
Ah yes, Flann O'Brien - Brian O'Nolan, Brian O'Nuallain, Myles na Gopaleen. My favourite gaeilgoir.
I was introduced to Flann O'Brien 20-odd years ago in Londonby a mad Scotsman who gave me a loan of "The Third Policeman"... before it became fashionable through "Lost" (apparently).
That one is from "At Swim-Two-Birds" of course, somewhere about the time that Shorty wants to take pot shots at The Fairy in the Pooka's pocket. A lovely pome.
You'd have to read it, folks!
Yes, Mr Gombeen Man, I agree! We are all angels of our time, and Gay Byrne has had a good innings. Clearly he was well connected in business and government before he began his broadcasting career, but even so, he had the talent and tenacity to succeed. However, his time in public life is over, and he should recognise that and be satisfied. There is nothing more humiliating to see a wonderful artist “fall on his face” because they have lost ‘their timing’ and sense of time. It happened to Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, and several other actors and celebrities that they 'lost it' because they were too old, and past it.
So the message to Gay Byrne is: be like George Burns who complained when aged ninety nine that he only make love three times a week, because his landlady easily got tired. He smoked cigars and drank brandy and was sexually active all his life. He claimed that God has a wonderful sense of humour and He created this earth and made people when he had a hangover, but essentially it was all a joke that went wrong.
So therefore Mr Byrne, get yourself down to Temple Bar, or visit a city centre 'síbín' and have some ‘craic’ (not crack), and live in decent company, (not synthetic liars and embezzlers), for the remainder of your days just like Myles and Patrick Kavanagh. They had a soul and something significant to say that caused us all to think and reflect, through their pain. Get a life !!!
DBMG
Well, it looks like Mr Byrne has made the sensible choice, DB. He announced he wasn't going to run for president. I think that is a good decision all round - for us and for him, personally.
Now all we need is a candidate who is worth voting for...
yeahhhh gm a candidate to vote for i nominate MICKEY MOUSE or mayBe HOMER SIMPSON I know there are fierce important people in RTE ,ESB CIE ETC but for the good of oirland they should remain in place WHERE OH WHERE IS BERTY or is it BERTIE ,tis a grand soft day tangod here in beverly hills BH
Howdy BH.
Is he still giving lectures on how to run an economy, I wonder?
After reading about all the trouble and problems my second home is having in finding a new President, may this Limey Royalist start a hare running that HM QE2 be invited to join in. She seemed to well when she was over and as the North of the South has her installed the dear grandmother could bring about a 32 Ireland, make everybody happy and solve the problem as it is known that Charlie would succeed HMQE2 and Willian after that? Yes or No. Answers on a postcard please.
I am sure Micheal Martin must be sick Gay decdied not to run. It would have been a vote for Finna Fail without them having to finance the campaign and the bonus of getting their man in despite been wiped out at the last election
What about all the wayward politicians that racked up €300,000 on the Dails bar tab draw straws for the job? Sure the winner is bound to be great craic anyway. Simples.
We have a few high rolling Civil Servants in the UK who racked up £1 billion in a year on their personal high life on the credit cards they are issued with to use in the course of their duties, from the great and the good people taxpayers of the country, but who cannot afford the odd pint now and again. It was reported in the Press but only once?
New comment. France is putting pressure on Germany with its now static economy and huge debts to stump up and save the Euro. This has happened before. Be careful for what you ask Sarkozy, German industry with its awsome might may turn to building Junkers 88's, King Tigers and ME109's.
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