Enda Kenny – Number 1 in 2011.

Person of the year 2011. Enda has to prove his mettle still. The EU
financial mess and the bank debt will feature as the judgement calls.
He will also have to speak to the people again through television but
this time in a detailed explanation of strategy in the economic war.
And no bullshit. Leaders questions should be used to lead the country.
Never be afraid to state that you don’t know. Even Einstein didn’t
know everything. Mind you do you remember the taximan Fred Housego, I
think he was called on Mastermind?

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Fintan O’Toole on the Promissory Notes. Ever break a promise Enda?????

The promissory notes for Anglo and Irish Nationwide total €31 billion.
The interest on these notes, as set out by Michael Noonan in
September, is €17 billion. We are to make annual payments of €3.1
billion up to 2024. The payments continue at smaller, but still
significant, levels until 2031. A child born in 2008, when the bank
guarantee was given, will (unless she emigrates) still be paying a
chunk of her taxes towards Anglo and INBS when she is 23. Actually,
even these mind-boggling figures don’t tell the whole story. The truth
is that the Department of Finance doesn’t actually know how much the
total cost of the promissory notes will be. Michael Noonan’s written
reply to Pearse Doherty on the subject in September contains the
phrase “It is difficult . . . to isolate precisely the exact cost of
the interest payments on the borrowing undertaken to fund the
promissory note payments.” We’re borrowing money to pay the interest
on the money we’ve borrowed to bail out Anglo and Irish Nationwide –
and we don’t know how much it is. But the official estimate is that in
2013, when the interest payments kick in, the annual cost will be €1.8
billion. To put this in perspective, the interest alone on the
promissory notes is nearly three times the annual yield from the new
23 per cent rate of VAT.

Colette Brown – I do not know this lady but she likes to hit the nail with the hammer and not her own fingers.

It’s not our fault, but we’re paying a heavy price for their economic mess

By Colette Browne

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

YOU’RE not responsible for the crisis — but you’re sure as hell going
to pay for it, is probably the most succinct way to summarise the
Taoiseach’s hotly anticipated state of the nation address.

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More on Darren Scully

I expect the Fine Gael Central Council to confirm that the statements
of Councillor Darren Scully on KFM are incompatable with being a
member of Fine Gael. He said that he would not represent a group in
society distinguishable by the colour of their skins and possibly by
an African accent from somewhere on that vast continent.

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Scully – must be expelled from Fine Gael.

Darren Scully had better be expelled from FG for his comments on
Kildare FM. I listened to him.with Clem on the radio. The radio
presenter made a total idiot of him. Stupid idiot. Pregnant girls and
now “Black Africans” and other people also, I could not associate with
a racist.

The Reilly File

Dr James Reilly is quietly doing his job. Like the Skibbereen Eagle
and the Russians, I am watching him and will keep you informed.

What next for Fine Gael – the prologue

Michael D Higgins has been very dignified throughout the campaign.
Many FG voters that I know voted for him and were happy to do so.

For Gay Mitchell, all I can say is I’m sorry for him. I know I have been there.

What is the message for Fine Gael. Firstly, I think that respecting the Presidency as a transendant office would be a good start.
Secondly, the last election result was a reflection of the public betrayal and obvious lack of competence of Fianna Fail. They just had to go and someone had to fill the gap.

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Garret RIP Great Man

I am very sad at the death of Garret FitzGerald, a true Irish icon. I think that Garret is the greatest public figure here since 1960.

The tributes, stories reminiscences on the radio and television from blasts from the past like Gemma Hussey, Barry Desmond, Shane Kenny, Peter Prendergast, Dick Spring were riveting to me. I well remember all the anecdotes told and loved hearing them again. In a week where Enda conducted his role as Taoiseach with great dignity, I thought Michael Martin, Eamonn Gilmore, and Shane Ross were excellent in Dail Eireann. Enda Kenny spoke in a very dignified manner for those in Fine Gael and the replay of Garret’s 80th birthday interview with John Bowman on RTE was brilliant. Alan Dukes was tinder dry and on Prime Time, John Bruton was emotional with Miriam O’Callaghan.

What made Garret phenomenal was the continuance of his public life in the media right up to his final illness.

I offer my condolences to his extended family and to all those who were and are his friends

Canvassing Turnapin near the Airport

Mary Early, Billy McDonald canvass Turnapin in Fingal on 22 February

[View with PicLens]

Job Creation Bill

Noonan Announces Plan for ‘Jobs Creation Bill’ in 1st 100 Days if FG Elected to Govt

At the launch of the YFG Youth Manifesto, ‘Let’s Get Young Ireland Working’, Fine Gael’s Finance Spokesman, Michael Noonan announced details of his Party’s plans to hold a ‘Jobs Creation Bill’ within 100 days if elected to office on the 25th of February.

“If we get elected to Government on February 25th, we want to start implementing the jobs plan element of our 5 Point Plan straight away.

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