Irish General Election

only certainty is an Irish Republican party or parties in coalition, will be in power, who still have madidate on freeing 6 counties from the brits.
I think it will happen. Its an island which should be reunited, there is so much benefits to get rid of brits.

A United Ireland is inevitable, but all parties aspire to it, and it most certainly seems a non-issue in this Election

Think you have it summed up well Spurs,8/15 FG, 2/1 FF and 11/2 SF, that looks spot on betting. SF have lost their momentum from a couple of years ago and the coalition mostly did well with obvious exceptions.Coalition if needed will again happen to thwart SF.
Agree no appetite for drastic change with the Trump factor and US multinationals in play.
The re unification will be a slow process but the baby steps are evident with increased infrastructure and communication.

FF were out in force tonight campaigning, spoke to lovely ghirl at the door, and I said sometimes it's best to lose by doing correct thing, rather than win by doing wrong thing.
Do not appease this far right scum.

quite a drift on Fine Gael after a pretty disastrous first few days.The next opinion polls will be interesting.

Yes, 10/11 FG,11/10 FF and 9/2 SF, given the drift on FG and strength on FF surely won't have changed the coalition price(2/1) between the 2 much? It could as you allude be the first sign of a protest vote and a rake if indys?

Fine Gael price going only one way IMO

all change for "most seats" FF 4/7 FG 5/2 SF 9/2
Disastrous campaign from Fine Gael thus far.
Leaders debate tonight may provide one more twist

Shinners were out in force in Donegal, was going to garage so never spoke to them at the door but got there leaflet, basically could have been a reproduction of FF's policies, all big parties campaigning on same issues, no mention of immigration BTW.

On the ball Spurs,some drift, Harris imo had a bit of a hatchet job done on him in North Cork and by the fella whose son emigrated, they are though very legitimate issues and needed strong answers  rather than his poor efforts.

My small bet on FG/FF coalition in a bit from 2's to 6/4,that is v tight still.

Obv!
Got 2_ keep pay English council \ property tax & the banks tax usc

Exit polls suggest Sinn Fein fractionally got highest vote (i hope so) FG a tiny bit behind and FF 1.5% behind them,my FF/FG gone,not enough.
Greens,Labour,social democrats and independents all did well.

Glad indos and Greens done well Pa.
Sinn Fein definitely played their cards late here in canvassing, were not seen here till Monday night, then team handed in Donegal, probably support from Derry.
Might be strategic move that pays off. Who Knows ?

The reduction in FF/FG support over the last 30 years is like a balloon deflating ever so slowly, sometimes so slowly, you don't appreciate it's deflating.

where can you watch count ?

RTE news are doing a live section.

That is updated every couple of minutes

What a waste of €€€€€€€

bar the news lol
Till 2 am
Spunk the €€€€€€

No great surprise amongst the main 3 parties, hope you did well on FF Spurs. FF/FG/Labour looks the end result.

The big losers were the Far Right (Dwyer gone Trumpy and thinks it was ****,Blighe got just over 4%, no one is entertaining them) and the Greens

**** = F ixed.

A couple of years ago, I went to NI to add to my set of racecourses visited. (Down Royal & Downpatrick)

It was my first visit to Belfast and what an eye opener, how that community got through that period of time years ago was unreal.

Anyway, the point of this post was there is talk of an united Ireland after this election. I am English and have no right to interject one way or another. However, I must tell the story of the driver we booked at BIA.

He took us to the races, we did all the murals, Falls Road & Shankill Road and all the bars you cannot go into with a blue or green shirt, and all the best parts of the city.

At the drop off back home, we asked him did he think there would be a united Ireland ? He said growing up in Belfast during the troubles, when you never knew if your Mum/Dad or bothers/sisters would actually come home safely was a daily real stress that is not explanable now.

He has brought his kids up in peace for 20 years and thought if there was a united Ireland, you would swap the IRA shooting British soldiers to the UVF shooting Irish soldiers.

Given a vote, he would vote against it.

Yes, I did ask, he was a catholic.

Hope you backed a few winners and enjoyed it.

I understand that mans view and don't necessary disagree at all with him, it was an era that was frankly brutal and of course peace and living a life free of danger should never be taken for granted.

I would be Nationalist,Ireland was partitioned just over a hundred years ago and divided to suit a Protestant majority there,i don't see any 'right' with that.

The old population that lived through the troubles are diminishing and replaced by youth who largely not into the tribal thing(some are indeed) I do think time is an important fator.

Another factor is Brexit, NI fortunate to be in both markets, i won't under-estimate an overall increase in the misfortune of the UK due to that and it lessened in NI, a continuation of Ireland doing well economically may be in play.

Would i dream of even telling that man my idealism would come before his practicality, no way,he would have to want it himself.

Who would want to be in the EU now, never mind in 2016. Southern Ireland should join the United Kingdom.

Great Irish election Pa, right wing got their a rse handed to them, all the have now is their dung posted on you tube and twitter.
The strangest thing I read was them giving out about Tidy Towns, which is amazing initiative in this country, were volunteers keep local areas beautiful and compete in great competition.
I assume they seen a black lad help some Tidy Town campaign to focus on that, real weirdos, but Ireland called them out, so well done everybody who voted.

Welcome back Irishone,hope others have also got 'pardoned' including Charlie. All going through life and while i have often built up a head of steam on here,it just isn't worth it,for yourself or a stranger on the net.

Indeed Malay. Of course they are problems,it would be great as a nation that solving them doesn't include hate and divisiveness. The ballot box showed the chronic percentage of people actually interested in their bile despite the alluding of others on this forum that they held some sway.

Ta se go maith!

@ Cider, as i said the far right got destroyed,who you say? The IFP, the Irish Freedom Party or what looks to me a Reform proxy, why do i say that? Because of Hermann Kelly and Farage links.Similar grifts with Irexit but very little interest as was voted.

A party with a misnomer for a name.

I have practically zero knowledge of Southern Ireland politics. Not interested in smears though. Who would want to be in the EU, it's falling apart.

Barnier latest: France PM Michel Barnier faces no-confidence vote as government on brink of collapse
A vote of no-confidence in French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is taking place at the National Assembly today. If the vote goes through, the PM will be ousted and the government will collapse.

France and Germany, the EU’s two most influential countries, have gone missing just when Europe needs them most.

Donald Trump will be back in the White House next month, bringing challenges on defence, Ukraine and trade, but Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz have other things to worry about.

In Paris, the minority government brought in after summer snap elections is on the brink of collapse and faces a motion of no confidence after forcing through a budget without a vote.

Emmanuel Macron cannot dissolve parliament again until June. He is left with the stark choice of appointing another short-lived government or resigning.

Mr Macron retains responsibility for foreign policy but is a lame duck domestically and more master of ceremonies than master of his destiny.

Germany’s dysfunctional coalition government, meanwhile, collapsed after Olaf Scholz sacked his finance minister on Nov 5.

The unpopular Chancellor, a man who could define prevarication if he ever got around to it, is a dead man walking before elections in February.

Had he got his way, the vote would have been a month later.

Whether you are interested in smears or not,there is a movement which seems to be coming from the direction of Reform, EDL in Irish politics and it should be bate out of the place.

What are their policies ?

Which ever way the wind blows.

You can seek further information on twitter,google,wiki.

Irish Freedom Party (@Irexitfreedom)-X

Some comments on that,it give you a good idea of what they are all about.

Virer. Sacrebleu !

Cider likes a drink obviously "Southern Ireland should Join United Kingdom" phone Lfc and akas nurses.
Might have been joke hopefully or betfair forum should take responsibility for mental health issues. Even yer man from monster raving loony party wouldn't suggest Republic of Ireland should join UK.
Anyway PA might go for  a few Clonmel chardonnays later aka Bulmer's Cider, keep celebrating lads, Ireland gave the right wing scum the message at the polls, despite their X and you tube dung ALSO INFESTED BETFAIR.

Jesting obviously, it will never happen due to political dogma, but would make total sense practically, and culturally. Southern Irish have much more commonality with the UK than the EU, in addition to the obvious language. If you didn't know, I am an Irish citizen.

Dec 4, 2024 -- 8:08AM, MALAY wrote:

Great Irish election Pa, right wing got their a rse handed to them, all the have now is their dung posted on you tube and twitter.The strangest thing I read was them giving out about Tidy Towns, which is amazing initiative in this country, were volunteers keep local areas beautiful and compete in great competition.I assume they seen a black lad help some Tidy Town campaign to focus on that, real weirdos, but Ireland called them out, so well done everybody who voted.

I agree re the Tidy Towns but it does grate me that Irish society promotes this volunteerism in areas such as this when it should be the remit of properly funded local services, rather than having to rely on the goodwill of some, mostly older folk as well.

For UK readers, the far right in Ireland is a few people on twitter giving out, and a couple of very small fringe parties. It is where you'd imagine the far right to have been in the UK or wider Europe, 20 years ago. The way the Left carry on about it (give a microphone to any Irish Left wing politician/activist and count the seconds before the magic words 'far right' are spouted, you won't be waiting long) you would think they have repelled the combined forces of Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen.

i love tidy towns it's magnificent, it is above local authority decent service,  maybe some in england should organise it, better use of time than watching you tube, twitter and posting right wing dung on betfair, nah too difficult for them probably

I think it depends on urban,rural ,semi rural in the UK. A lot of villages make an effort with flowers,things to do like fetes,church coffee/tea mornings.

Fair point re tidy town funding, Cork corporation do quite a good job in the city centre with a bit of seasonal flowers and areas like the Lough and Fitzgeralds Park are pristine and the latter quite stunning.I do think they are trying to plan even better facilities for local communities as in Mahon for one.  Agree it is a great community 'thing'.

I admit i was in the dark as such re IFP before this election,their links as i said earlier in the thread are very suspect. They do though have valid points and i would like to see Irish being first in the queue for social housing. The weaponising of the Wexford incident is shocking from them and a poisonous mindset to try and spread.As a  country we are so much better than that and should be kept that way.

i used to do a bit of travelling in england via train, i loved seeing wee amatuer  football pitches, obviously looked after with volunteers, community lads, magnificent stuff