Comments on: Mansergh vs. Ward on BBC2 NI “Hearts and Minds”: Youtube

By: Mansergh vs. Ward on BBC2 NI “Hearts and Minds”: Youtube | Journalist.ie

Mansergh vs. Ward on BBC2 NI “Hearts and Minds”: Youtube | Journalist.ie — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:16:27 +0000

[...] From Strong Language » politics: [...]

By: james mccarthy

james mccarthy — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:02:11 +0000

you should get a medal for putting up with that without resorting to violence.

seriously.

By: Duke of Marmalade

Duke of Marmalade — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:15:47 +0000

Looked at the YouTube. That was great crack. That guy shouldn’t be let out.

All the same I think your points were a bit simplistic and populist.

Let’s get a sense of reality here. The Debt/GDP ratio of this country was 95% at the beginning of the 90′s. It is currently 110% in Italy. It was 40% in Ireland at the end of 2008. Okay we are due to add an unacceptable 12.5% this year but we have still huge headroom and we are still rated AAA. I’m with JP Morgan, we should not panic here. This is not Armageddon unless we talk ourselves into it. The banks are a very unfortunate complication but worst case scenario we would need about 10% of GDP to bail them out.

By: David Gleeson

David Gleeson — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:17:17 +0000

Margaret,

Seems there is some denial in evidence among some posters on here. To quote Enda Gaffney – “we have infrastructure on par with the best in the world.” While his comments seem intelligent for the most part, this is a ridiculous statement.

Has Enda ever travelled on the continent? We have a new Luas (2 lines which don’t connect), unreliable buses (with an indecipherable non digitised timetable system) and some diesel trains. And that’s it. As long as people like Enda continue to deny the reality of our situation then it will never be rectified.

Get it straight – A large part of our problem is that our infrastructure is third world.

By: Paul Murphy

Paul Murphy — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:52:14 +0000

Margaret,

I just saw the “discussion” on YouTube. You were excellent and I think a significant number of people agree with your views. The government’s failure to confront reality and refusal to accept any responsibility (for the inflation in public spending plus lack of effective regulation) in contributing to Ireland’s particularly severe crisis, is truly scary. A “crisis” has to be addressed with urgency, conviction and usually, unprecedented measures. To date, we have seen no evidence that our leaders realise this and the fact that they procrastinate and constantly hide behind “global factors” is denial at its worst. To be fair, the opposition have been less than impressive in their behaviour and you are correct, a cross – party approach is needed – in fact it’s now an imperative given the decisions required.

On the positive side, there’s a unique opportunity to get our act together by taking some tough decisions and rooting out croneyism for good .

Keep up the excellent commentary!

By: Duke of Marmalaxde

Duke of Marmalaxde — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:56:49 +0000

I meant JP Morgan not Moodys, sorry.

By: Duke of Marmalaxde

Duke of Marmalaxde — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:55:35 +0000

Didn’t see the debate. Did you see the latest comments from Moodys and Fitch? According to them Ireland is by no means the worst in the EU and our Governement are positively the best in taking decisive action. It is indeed becoming very popular (or is it populist?) to think tha tIreland is a complete basket case and all the fault is with FF. How refreshing to hear these positive views from objective analysts who know what they are talking about.

By: Patrick Wilkinson

Patrick Wilkinson — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:23:44 +0000

Margaret,
The country is going through the 5 stages of grief as we mourn the loss of the Celtic Tiger.
1. Denial and isolation
Look at the inaction of the government, the Financial Regulator and the banks during the period from mid 2007 (when the credit crunch emerged) to the present day.
2. Anger
Look at the reaction of Mansergh, Dempsey, Lenihan and Cowen when faced with the “populist” opinions that you put to him in your interview.
3. Bargainning
The dithering of the government as they try to govern by consensus with the so called “social partners” instead of taking the tough decisions required of true leaders.
4. Depression
I think we’re all agreed there’s going to be plenty of this about in the weeks, months and years to come.
5. Acceptance
Sadly, whilst the majority of us have accepted our loss, the government’s rigid refusal to accept that our current position is anything other than part of an international economic blight demonstrates that they remain out of touch with reality and have not yet come to terms with the country’s loss.

The question is though, in the absence of an opportunity at the ballot box (the government’s never going to call a general election), what can we do?

Patrick

By: fiona mcgoran

fiona mcgoran — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:17:57 +0000

Congratulations Margaret – you tackled him head on and didn’t let his foostering or blustering get in the way. I think you did an excellent job of exposing his lack of knowledge and clarity on the subject. I’m looking forward to seeing you go head to head with many others.

By: Brendan Waters

Brendan Waters — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:09:41 +0000

Hi Margaret,
You hit the nail on the head during
your discussion with Mansergh.His
performance confirmed that Goverment is so totally out of touch and out of depth.In fact it
would be true to say the majority
of politicians in Ireland fall into
this category and consequently we’re screwed,and we have every right to feel genuinly worried.
When are we ever going to hear public figures give straight answers to straight questions ?
Your ‘debate’ highlighted a typical
politician’s response to the crisis
we’re in,and what you said is true,
we have had enough…..Time for real change.
Well done on a great piece of work,
Regards,
Brendan Waters.
P.S. To be fair to Mansergh,he did
manage to knock the water over by himself.