Bad beat/Moaning/Venting thread - It's the end of the world as we know it

[Raoul Duke III]

What did Leo achieve, what positive do we think he will be remembered for?

Top of the head and obviously the perspective of time will be required but:

1. Abortion referendum. Important step in bringing us out of the dark ages.
2. Covid. We had a better than average covid response (may have lucked out being an island).
3. Economic success - still growing at a rate that makes us the envy of the EU.
4. Staked out a solid response on both Ukraine and Gaza.

I would say Enda was a better Taoiseach overall and dealt with more challenging circumstances but Varadkar will probably be remembered as a safe pair of hands. And of course neither a drunk nor a corrupt gombeen unlike a couple of his recent predecessors.

[Raoul Duke III]

Havent a crystal ball, all i know for a fact is they made a balls of it.

That's some sophisticated analysis there ole!

[paul8200]

Top of the head and obviously the perspective of time will be required but:

1. Abortion referendum. Important step in bringing us out of the dark ages.
2. Covid. We had a better than average covid response (may have lucked out being an island).
3. Economic success - still growing at a rate that makes us the envy of the EU.
4. Staked out a solid response on both Ukraine and Gaza.

I would say Enda was a better Taoiseach overall and dealt with more challenging circumstances but Varadkar will probably be remembered as a safe pair of hands. And of course neither a drunk nor a corrupt gombeen unlike a couple of his recent predecessors.

Also you forgot Brexit and the outcomes in the fucked up NI - Brexit without and hard border and now the (also fucked up) institutions underway again. I think his strengths (leadership, non populist per se) was also his downfall, if you figure he knows there is shit coming, nice time to leave. FG seem fucked. I don't think there is a viable Government leadership alternative to FF/FG but we are going to get it. Paddy Cosgrave was hinting on big reasons for his sudden departure, but it had to be anyway - would be leaked otherwise and then a very different event. Fair play Leo I say. You got the best of it. Leave on your terms.

[Raoul Duke III]

Top of the head and obviously the perspective of time will be required but:

1. Abortion referendum. Important step in bringing us out of the dark ages.
2. Covid. We had a better than average covid response (may have lucked out being an island).
3. Economic success - still growing at a rate that makes us the envy of the EU.
4. Staked out a solid response on both Ukraine and Gaza.

I would say Enda was a better Taoiseach overall and dealt with more challenging circumstances but Varadkar will probably be remembered as a safe pair of hands. And of course neither a drunk nor a corrupt gombeen unlike a couple of his recent predecessors.

Forgot Brexit somehow - he unified Europe behind what must have seemed to many of them a very marginal principle. That was probably the #1 political achievement.

[Pat Mustard]

PP:

1/5 Harris
7/1 Coveney and Donohue
8/1 McEntee
16/1 Humphreys

Very surprised by the Harris hype/price. Must be solely because he's done well with education brief?

[Raoul Duke III]

Very surprised by the Harris hype/price. Must be solely because he's done well with education brief?

It's now:
1/4 Harris
7/2 Donohue
5/1 McEntee
6/1 Humphries

N/R Coveney

[ComradeCollie]

Who was the Taoiseach you most admired in your lifetime?

Haughey for me. Sending me a toothbrush in the 70s is still the greatest intervention any government has made(though that was before he was Taoiseach).

[Raoul Duke III]

There is definitely a political market for a Christian Democrat (I mean in the German sense, not 'christian' here) and I'd like to see FG fill that gap rather than try to be all things to everyone. Wonder if the new leader would try for that...

[Raoul Duke III]

Haughey for me. Sending me a toothbrush in the 70s is still the greatest intervention any government has made(though that was before he was Taoiseach).

Before my time old man

[eamonhonda]

Top of the head and obviously the perspective of time will be required but:

1. Abortion referendum. Important step in bringing us out of the dark ages.
2. Covid. We had a better than average covid response (may have lucked out being an island).
3. Economic success - still growing at a rate that makes us the envy of the EU.
4. Staked out a solid response on both Ukraine and Gaza.

I would say Enda was a better Taoiseach overall and dealt with more challenging circumstances but Varadkar will probably be remembered as a safe pair of hands. And of course neither a drunk nor a corrupt gombeen unlike a couple of his recent predecessors.

Was abortion during his reign? That's definitely one. Brexit as you said in an updated one we have to give him.

Covid I'm not so sure, Martin was at the helm for any of the difficult bits. Telling us all to lockdown in line with rest of the world isn't too much to be commended for.

[Raoul Duke III]

Was abortion during his reign? That's definitely one. Brexit as you said in an updated one we have to give him.

Covid I'm not so sure, Martin was at the helm for any of the difficult bits. Telling us all to lockdown in line with rest of the world isn't too much to be commended for.

Leo was in charge at the outset. Which set the tone for the remainder of the response.

Mortality rates were better than most of our peer countries (despite our much derided health service). Surely you wouldn't deny that as an achievement?

[DeadParrot]

Top of the head and obviously the perspective of time will be required but:

1. Abortion referendum. Important step in bringing us out of the dark ages.
2. Covid. We had a better than average covid response (may have lucked out being an island).
3. Economic success - still growing at a rate that makes us the envy of the EU.
4. Staked out a solid response on both Ukraine and Gaza.

I would say Enda was a better Taoiseach overall and dealt with more challenging circumstances but Varadkar will probably be remembered as a safe pair of hands. And of course neither a drunk nor a corrupt gombeen unlike a couple of his recent predecessors.

Free GPs for kids under 8
Reduced public transport costs

Reduced childcare costs

Those are ones that jump out for me

[eamonhonda]

Mortality rates were better than most of our peer countries (despite our much derided health service). Surely you wouldn't deny that as an achievement?

I wouldn't deny it as an achievement. But it wasn't Leo's. It took a lot more than tone

[Raoul Duke III]

I wouldn't deny it as an achievement. But it wasn't Leo's. It took a lot more than tone

You are nitpicking Eamo.

Tell us your assessment of his stewardship.

[Raoul Duke III]

Free GPs for kids under 8
Reduced public transport costs

Reduced childcare costs

Those are ones that jump out for me

Never really registered for me as my kids are too old to have benefitted but those are good ones.

There has to be some credit too for the green agenda of the current government?

[MysteryGuest]

Enda Kenny still our greatest living Taoiseach

[Solksjaer!]

Free GPs for kids under 8
Reduced public transport costs

Reduced childcare costs

Those are ones that jump out for me

Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system, and public health , what has the Varadkas done for us. ?

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

What did Leo achieve, what positive do we think he will be remembered for?

No politician ever gets credit for the things that happen on their watch, but all of the blame for all the wrong things.

To my mind the key benefits:
- Big progress in healthcare infrastructure. The roleouts of primary care centres and new health structures will be pivotal to changing us to a high quality healthcare system
- Broadly handled the geopolitics right - nobody took too much from us and our standing seems pretty topnotch
- Largest surpluses that have ever been seen with a foreseeable long term mega-surplus - which is heavily related to handling the geopolitics right
- Infrastructure changes vastly for the better in terms of investing in liveable towns and cities, broadband is such a massive thing for rural ireland
- Fixing housing - we're now up at 33k and that will, with growth, eventually solve the housing problem (anyone who claims things could have grown any quicker is just making things up)

Those would be my top five. You can assign credit for those achievements to other people, as they are shared achievements, but those are part of our growing up as a country. You can also criticise some of the things, such as healthcare, but thats not looking at whats really happening in healthcare. Anyone e.g. who has had any major illness, such as a cancer, knows that once you are in that system for a major illness you tend to get excellent quality care.

I'm not proclaiming he's a hero or anything like that. But usually the sentence 'what did xXx achieve' means your head is full of headlines about short-term news, while its the long term strategies that change lives. tbh I'd hate to be living in the UK for that reason - all they seem to focus on is on managing the short-term news and they never get around to the long-term stuff - unlike our politicians.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

I realise anytime you mention housing and healthcare people fall about themselves talking about the current problems. But its about the direction to my mind.

[eamonhonda]

You are nitpicking Eamo.

Tell us your assessment of his stewardship.

Ah no I'm not really, I was genuinely trying to think what he'd be remembered for, I think you answered fair enough and I agree to most part, just not on covid haha.

Fierce unlikeable fella tho. And leaving a lot of problems behind (of course not all his fault)

[Gimmeabreak]

if nothing else the current news confirms that opposition politics and opposition political thinking is the most rancid of existence known to humankind.

[Gimmeabreak]

bit.ly/FineGael2024

[Raoul Duke III]

Ah no I'm not really, I was genuinely trying to think what he'd be remembered for, I think you answered fair enough and I agree to most part, just not on covid haha.

Fierce unlikeable fella tho. And leaving a lot of problems behind (of course not all his fault)

So (and this is not directed at you at all) you are expressing a common opinion these days. And it's something that is by no means restricted to Ireland - in fact we probably have it milder than most other liberal democracies - the US is the worst.

It's this:

1. by pretty much any measure you care to name, we are living in the best version of Ireland that has ever existed. It's peaceful, democratic and ludicrously wealthy. We are well educated, we live long, decent lives. Crime is low and violent crime even lower. This is one of the best places in the world to live - by being born in Ireland, you have won the lottery of life. Yes, we do have some problems (the perfect country does not exist) but, largely, Ireland is fucking awesome.
2. If I go up to any random Irish person and start asking questions, they will probably agree that they, as an individual, lead a pretty great life. So they are able, in the context of their own individual circumstances to recognise the facts in (1) above.
3. Now, if I ask the same person how they think Ireland is doing as a country, their response will likely be very different. They will point to problems in housing, in health. They might have a rant about immigration. They might shout about inflation. etc etc

Politicians are working to build (1) for the benefit of (2) - but they are getting judged on (3).

(3) is, largely speaking a false perception, that opposition politicians and bad actors try to amplify - generally using social media. If you can push the narrative of (3) hard enough, then you will succeed at the ballot boxes - unfortunately that 'success' translates into things like Trump, Brexit, the Front Nationale, Wilders, Orban etc etc

How do we break this cycle and start talking about politics in a way that is objective and focused on the long term policies? I have no idea. But given the toxic discourse around (3), I can see exactly why someone like Leo would want to get the hell out of dodge.

[Raoul Duke III]

Like for example, ole said Leo 'made a balls of it'.

Where did that even come from? It would be interesting for him to think back over it (I'm sure he wasn't thinking too deeply as he typed it) and investigate where that came from. Does he really believe it? Does he tend to read social media that amplifies that opinion? Is he angry and why is he angry? Who is he even angry at?

We're being manipulated - every day. Mostly without being aware of it.

[balfejohn]

Enda Kenny still our greatest living Taoiseach

And therein lies the mystery

[Solksjaer!]

We are always copying the Brits . Our Queen is gone now too, thats 2 queens in a week after Emmet Stagg checked out .

[Murdrum]

Like for example, ole said Leo 'made a balls of it'.

Where did that even come from? It would be interesting for him to think back over it (I'm sure he wasn't thinking too deeply as he typed it) and investigate where that came from. Does he really believe it? Does he tend to read social media that amplifies that opinion? Is he angry and why is he angry? Who is he even angry at?

We're being manipulated - every day. Mostly without being aware of it.

I think there are certain things which are still present in Ireland which people can feel aggrieved about despite the evident progress.

Your first point is rather trivial because that is the condition of almost all western societies which is what people in Ireland are comparing themselves against.

Regarding your 2nd & 3rd points, you’re making some very broad assumptions.
I don’t believe that as many people as you think see themselves as content on the individual level but identify the society as a whole as broken.
There is a much larger cohort of individuals who genuinely feel their life is not that great and that Ireland is also not all that great.

[Solksjaer!]

I think there are certain things which are still present in Ireland which people can feel aggrieved about despite the evident progress.

Your first point is rather trivial because that is the condition of almost all western societies which is what people in Ireland are comparing themselves against.

Regarding your 2nd & 3rd points, you’re making some very broad assumptions.
I don’t believe that as many people as you think see themselves as content on the individual level but identify the society as a whole as broken.
There is a much larger cohort of individuals who genuinely feel their life is not that great and that Ireland is also not all that great.

But what is that based on. The necessities of today are right up their in the hierarchy of needs table. Now not having a car or a phone with x amount of download speed is considered poverty and yet cocaine use and bloomin botox is flying high business wise. Inflation has been bad I guess but for me the 2 big things that need to be tackled. Housing and Youth . The youth of today are either over entitled or inflamed by feelings of anger towards immigrants, especially asylum seekers and to a lesser extent yer average Joe delivering a Pizza. Young people seem self obsessed.
The AS debacle is really an accommodation issue. The population has grown , we need to build up. The amount of Immigrants is not the issue, it’s our lack of leadership on it. Leo stepped down , my guess is he has zero clue as to how to fix it, it’s bubbling atm. Like everything else, (including hospital building) we suffer from piss poor project management mindset. Ireland is at another mini crossroads. Maybe they can submit the variables into AI and see if it can produce a manifesto of logical genius. More coppers , more upward building, more youth resources and better planning. Failing all that, we probably need a vigilante force of middle aged big bellied blokes with pellet guns patrolling the towns of Ireland. Anyway I’m at my download limit on my phone , anyone know where the nearest internet café is to Newcastle?

A separate rant, my kid is learning the Irish National Anthem. There is one clear reason why a LOT of people don’t know it and it’s not because it’s in Irish. It’s because it’s in the most obscure Irish you can conjure up in one song. Who signed off on this shambles.

[Raoul Duke III]

I don’t believe that as many people as you think see themselves as content on the individual level but identify the society as a whole as broken.
There is a much larger cohort of individuals who genuinely feel their life is not that great and that Ireland is also not all that great.

Yep, and they are wrong.

The question is what do you do about that before those false perceptions spill over into terrible choices and even worse consequences.

[Raoul Duke III]

bit.ly/FineGael2024

It's done. First Wicklow Taoiseach.

[Raoul Duke III]

I wonder if most people have any opinion on Harris i.e. does he make much impact on the public consciousness

I certainly don't really know much about him other than he seemed a reasonably competent Minister. He'll be a very different style to Varadkar.

[Murdrum]

Yep, and they are wrong.

The question is what do you do about that before those false perceptions spill over into terrible choices and even worse consequences.

What’s a false perception?

Someone can still be aggrieved even if they recognise that by contemporary global standards and by historical Irish standards they’re in a very privileged situation but by contemporary Irish standards they might be suffering.

For those like you and I, we just happen to be also in the category of doing well by contemporary Irish standards.

[Raoul Duke III]

What’s a false perception?

Someone can still be aggrieved even if they recognise that by contemporary global standards and by historical Irish standards they’re in a very privileged situation but by contemporary Irish standards they might be suffering.

For those like you and I, we just happen to be also in the category of doing well by contemporary Irish standards.

The perception that everything in Ireland is shit and their life is awful (and it's someone else's fault) - that's a false perception.

We can't stop people having a false perception but we should at least call it out as being so.

[oleras]

Like for example, ole said Leo 'made a balls of it'.

Where did that even come from? It would be interesting for him to think back over it (I'm sure he wasn't thinking too deeply as he typed it) and investigate where that came from. Does he really believe it? Does he tend to read social media that amplifies that opinion? Is he angry and why is he angry? Who is he even angry at?

We're being manipulated - every day. Mostly without being aware of it.

Promising to deliver x# of housing units, block buying from private developers, removing the private individual from even the option to purchase in my opinion is a disgrace.
Lets say a car is 25k to buy outright but someone buys all the cars and decides to rent them to you at a much higher price than you would be paying if you took a loan yourself, i honestly see that as disgraceful.
Real world i have a son who pays 950 a month for a room, thats more than my mortgage, there is a very strong possibility that he may never even have the opportunity to buy a place of his own, that he could afford, similar to thousands of people in similar positions.

Dont get sick on a friday, especially not a bank holiday weekend. This didnt happen overnight, how do other countries deal with it ? they work 24/7 365...throw money at it, get it sorted, they have lots of money they can find down the back of the couch when they want.

I am very aware of how good I have it, very, its not about me though its about the next generation, they wont have the same comforts i have, i am also very aware this is not an Ireland issue, its most developed countries at this stage...what changed in 40 years ? I just cant get my head around it.

Very easy for us to say im alright Jack, there are many more who will never achieve what we have, and its not down to lack of ambition or drive.

[oleras]

Yep, and they are wrong.

The question is what do you do about that before those false perceptions spill over into terrible choices and even worse consequences.

Are you thinking of running ?

Throw in an auld "far right" to be sure.

[oleras]

Where is the hundred year plan ? The 50 year plan? The 25 year plan ? Never mentioned...the next election, thats what counts. Democracy just doesnt work anymore imo, teachers and doctors running the country, get the tzars in and pay them enough to at least find a soloution regardless of how difficult it may be to implement.

Dont even start me on the greens with their climate cult...not everyone lives on a luas line.

Far too early for me to be getting riled....

[Raoul Duke III]

Are you thinking of running ?

Jesus, no. You would want to be off your head to get involved.

Throw in an auld "far right" to be sure.

Luckily, we don't have that yet as an electoral option but it's coming. The rhetoric is turning nastier and somebody will figure out how to package that up in a way that is electable.

[Raoul Duke III]

Promising to deliver x# of housing units, block buying from private developers, removing the private individual from even the option to purchase in my opinion is a disgrace.
Lets say a car is 25k to buy outright but someone buys all the cars and decides to rent them to you at a much higher price than you would be paying if you took a loan yourself, i honestly see that as disgraceful.
Real world i have a son who pays 950 a month for a room, thats more than my mortgage, there is a very strong possibility that he may never even have the opportunity to buy a place of his own, that he could afford, similar to thousands of people in similar positions.

It's the same all over the Western world. Go to London, New York, Paris...you will see the exact same market stresses.

I am not really sure why people think politicians are the answer. Let them fix the planning system to maximise the capability to build yes, but for God's sake don't put them in charge of actual delivery.

As Hitch has noted, this is a multi-year thing. The supply is actually increasing YoY. Will it take many years to reach equilibrium? Yes.

Dont get sick on a friday, especially not a bank holiday weekend. This didnt happen overnight, how do other countries deal with it ? they work 24/7 365...throw money at it, get it sorted, they have lots of money they can find down the back of the couch when they want.

It's not a money problem. We spend more per head (despite having a younger population) on Heath than nearly anyone.

It's a delivery problem. It's all about achieving optimal service delivery and we are stuck in a 1950s view of what a health service configuration should be.

I am very aware of how good I have it, very, its not about me though its about the next generation, they wont have the same comforts i have, i am also very aware this is not an Ireland issue, its most developed countries at this stage...what changed in 40 years ? I just cant get my head around it.

Very easy for us to say im alright Jack, there are many more who will never achieve what we have, and its not down to lack of ambition or drive.

Why do you think the next generation won't have it better than us?

We did, our parents did, their parents did.

[Degag]

May have mentioned before but I know i guy who built his (very nice) house without a need for a mortgage. Owns another house that he rents out for nice money. Has gotten a couple inheritances and may get another couple. He is a millionaire in terms of assets and may also be one in liquid assets. He works full time in a ‘normal’ job also.

But will, for example, only go out once a week because ‘he can’t afford it’, along with some other traits.

Now you can call that miserly, and that is definitely a part of it, but this guy, while not particularity vocal, would be more on the side of the current opposition politics than the government. Regularity stating, ‘What are they doing for me/us etc.Strikes me as absolutely mad and a definite false perception.

And there are plenty more like him out there who don’t realise how lucky they have it and how quickly it could all change with some of the puppets in the wings.

[MysteryGuest]

Fantastic I’m alright jack nonsense from RD3 there .

There’s a good cohort in this country whose life is shit and it’s very much someone else’s fault- again not talking about myself here but if I look at people 10 years younger than me who have done everything right and weren’t half as much of a feckless fuckwit as I was in my 20’s who don’t have a hope of achieving some basic milestones like property ownership or being able to start a family as the ladder has been well and truly yanked up.


Marie Antoinette III quote “Why do you think the next generation won't have it better than us?

We did, our parents did, their parents did.”.

Past performance not an indicator of future performance- especially given the massive challenges ahead we haven’t begun to scratch the surface of

reminder fossil fuel carbon emissions hitting a record high this year - decades after it became clear they needed to be scaled back

[Denny Crane]

Top of the head and obviously the perspective of time will be required but:

1. Abortion referendum. Important step in bringing us out of the dark ages.
2. Covid. We had a better than average covid response (may have lucked out being an island).
3. Economic success - still growing at a rate that makes us the envy of the EU.
4. Staked out a solid response on both Ukraine and Gaza.

I would say Enda was a better Taoiseach overall and dealt with more challenging circumstances but Varadkar will probably be remembered as a safe pair of hands. And of course neither a drunk nor a corrupt gombeen unlike a couple of his recent predecessors.

Very flattering piece in Bloomberg about his leadership.

They wonder why the electorate is so ungrateful.

Housing and health are perennial structural problems, if that's the main criticism, it's a successful tenure.

[Raoul Duke III]

May have mentioned before but I know i guy who built his (very nice) house without a need for a mortgage. Owns another house that he rents out for nice money. Has gotten a couple inheritances and may get another couple. He is a millionaire in terms of assets and may also be one in liquid assets. He works full time in a ‘normal’ job also.

But will, for example, only go out once a week because ‘he can’t afford it’, along with some other traits.

Now you can call that miserly, and that is definitely a part of it, but this guy, while not particularity vocal, would be more on the side of the current opposition politics than the government. Regularity stating, ‘What are they doing for me/us etc.Strikes me as absolutely mad and a definite false perception.

And there are plenty more like him out there who don’t realise how lucky they have it and how quickly it could all change with some of the puppets in the wings.

Be interesting to see who he thinks could 'fix' things for him, the poor fecker.

[MysteryGuest]

Very flattering piece in Bloomberg about his leadership.

They wonder why the electorate is so ungrateful.

Housing and health are perennial structural problems, if that's the main criticism, it's a successful tenure.

Flattering piece in billionaire scumbag owned media outlet- wonder why they would be so happy with him

[Denny Crane]

Fierce unlikeable fella tho. And leaving a lot of problems behind (of course not all his fault)

That he got to where he is, despite having the charisma of a tree stump, suggests he must have some skills.

[Denny Crane]

Flattering piece in billionaire scumbag owned media outlet- wonder why they would be so happy with him

Just good to get a more detached global relative view

[balfejohn]

That he got to where he is, despite having the charisma of a tree stump, suggests he must have some skills.

Yes
They are called advisors
Fair play to him he surrendered himself with plenty of them

[Raoul Duke III]

That he got to where he is, despite having the charisma of a tree stump, suggests he must have some skills.

It was always quite surprising to me how quickly and how strongly he came back from his failure to oust Kenny.

[Murdrum]

Interested to see the Reddit IPO today, 6.5b valuation at the current price. I’m sure WallStreetBets is pretty busy discussing it.

Perhaps it’ll be a total non-event but about as interesting as an IPO can be.

[Lao Lao]

I have to admit, when I first heard he was resigning yesterday, I immediately thought that there must be some sort of scandal. That's was more directed at politics in general rather than Leo as normally you have to wrestle the power off any leader.

I know somebody who has worked fairly closely with him over a good few years, since he first became Taoiseach. They are in no way politically involved or motivated and they have always said that he is a very genuine, down to earth kind of person.

He has just always struggled to get that across to the public and probably just doesn't have the charisma to do so.

[dinekes]

Nestle owe me 1 smartie... only 31 in the box today!

Carry on

[Solksjaer!]

Nestle owe me 1 smartie... only 31 in the box today!

Carry on

What colour you missing ? Have a few spares at home in a discarded goodie bag..

[6starpool]

Nestle owe me 1 smartie... only 31 in the box today!

Carry on

Even without commenting on you actually counting them, is it a thing that there should be 32 of them in a tube? Is it written on the box anywhere, or has your years of OCD counting of smarties given you the knowledge that there are always 32 smarties in a tube?

[dinekes]

What colour you missing ? Have a few spares at home in a discarded goodie bag..

All colours present albeit not in egual amounts..there was a disconcerting nay discombobulating preponderance of light blue smarties and a rather paltry offering of red ones
Nestle lawyers beware!

[dinekes]

Even without commenting on you actually counting them, is it a thing that there should be 32 of them in a tube? Is it written on the box anywhere, or has your years of OCD counting of smarties given you the knowledge that there are always 32 smarties in a tube?

My dear old dad used to say I was a Savant of some kind when he was cracking wise!
1/2 pack= 16 smarties= 89calories

Written on the tube

Surely everyone matches up the colours or is that just me

[Solksjaer!]

All colours present albeit not in egual amounts..there was a disconcerting nay discombobulating preponderance of light blue smarties and a rather paltry offering of red ones
Nestle lawyers beware!

Sorry I led you up the garden Path . These yolks are not not smarties they are of a different breed. I think Skittles but cant be sure .

with Smarties consumption, do you eat one by one or devour a handful at a time ? As a I could never eat more than 2 or 3 ( hyperactivity reasons) .

Also there are folk out there who can eat a full Mars Bar . I look on with awe .

[Solksjaer!]

Even without commenting on you actually counting them, is it a thing that there should be 32 of them in a tube? Is it written on the box anywhere, or has your years of OCD counting of smarties given you the knowledge that there are always 32 smarties in a tube?

Sometimes there are in fact 31.

[dinekes]

Sorry I led you up the garden Path . These yolks are not not smarties they are of a different breed. I think Skittles but cant be sure .

with Smarties consumption, do you eat one by one or devour a handful at a time ? As a I could never eat more than 2 or 3 ( hyperactivity reasons) .

Also there are folk out there who can eat a full Mars Bar . I look on with awe .

Two at a time with slurp of tea.

Good that we are on to more important topics than the running of the country....this gougery has to stop!

Quick Solks... do up a few placards and we'll march to Leinster house

[Raoul Duke III]

Harris clearly does have a machiavellian streak. Enemies all slain without the need to fire a shot, WP.

[ComradeCollie]

Harris clearly does have a machiavellian streak. Enemies all slain without the need to fire a shot, WP.

Guy takes job nobody else wants more like. Genuinely wouldn't think any of people who had been mentioned are in any way enemies.

[Raoul Duke III]

Guy takes job nobody else wants more like. Genuinely wouldn't think any of people who had been mentioned are in any way enemies.

LOL. It's politics, not some nice little book club.

The whole point is to climb over the bodies of your compatriots and then rule by fear.