Ireland, economically, is way the hell and gone better than it was twenty or even ten years ago. Which has happened, I think, more despite anything the politicians have done than because of it.
But then, I'm a cynic :-)
The odds of a Sinn Féin... coup, for lack of a better word, are very small. The problem is that they currently have six TDs in the Dáil, and are likely to increase their representation at the next general election (putting them ahead of the Greens, the Socialists, and probably the Progressive Democrats, if still well behind Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil). I see that as a problem, because while I distrust all politicians, I distrust Sinn Féin politicians a great deal more than your ordinary kitchen or garden liar, cheat or well-meaning eejit who makes it in politics, because of their history of contempt for the institutions of the republic. And they could be the junior partner in the next coalition government, which is why I'm praying for a Fine Gael/Labour majority.
I'm a card-carrying pessimist, you see. Because what good are laws if there's a small but powerful group who've discovered they can break them with near-impunity?
Decommissioning was hopeful. But Sinn Féin and the IRA have been the glove and the fist, the carrot and the stick, of the peace process for so long that I automatically view anything they say with an excess of suspicion. Why now, after so long? Have they finally got what they wanted? And what do they want, because I don't see a 32-county republic hapening in my lifetime?
See. Cynic. Warned you.
And go ahead and friend me, tho' I'm rarely this erudite :-). I probably won't friend back, though: the Internet's a major timesink for me as it is, and I really don't dare let it become a bigger one :-)
Re: Wow..
But then, I'm a cynic :-)
The odds of a Sinn Féin... coup, for lack of a better word, are very small. The problem is that they currently have six TDs in the Dáil, and are likely to increase their representation at the next general election (putting them ahead of the Greens, the Socialists, and probably the Progressive Democrats, if still well behind Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil). I see that as a problem, because while I distrust all politicians, I distrust Sinn Féin politicians a great deal more than your ordinary kitchen or garden liar, cheat or well-meaning eejit who makes it in politics, because of their history of contempt for the institutions of the republic. And they could be the junior partner in the next coalition government, which is why I'm praying for a Fine Gael/Labour majority.
I'm a card-carrying pessimist, you see. Because what good are laws if there's a small but powerful group who've discovered they can break them with near-impunity?
Decommissioning was hopeful. But Sinn Féin and the IRA have been the glove and the fist, the carrot and the stick, of the peace process for so long that I automatically view anything they say with an excess of suspicion. Why now, after so long? Have they finally got what they wanted? And what do they want, because I don't see a 32-county republic hapening in my lifetime?
See. Cynic. Warned you.
And go ahead and friend me, tho' I'm rarely this erudite :-). I probably won't friend back, though: the Internet's a major timesink for me as it is, and I really don't dare let it become a bigger one :-)