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Dave Humphreys

Review: The Subaru Forester doesn't look like much - but you might fall for its rugged charms

We test drive the latest iteration of the Subaru Forester SUV.

MUCH LIKE SHANIA Twain, when I first saw the Subaru Forester I thought “that don’t impress me much”. However, once I sat inside the SUV and got it out on the road, I began to fall for its rugged charms.

In terms of styling the Subaru Forester puts function ahead of form. It’s not as stylish as some of its competitors but then again, I’d always choose function over form especially when it comes to a family car.

When you use the Forester everyday you really do appreciate how functional and practical it is. Let’s take the boot for example. It holds 505 litres with all seats in place and can expand to 1,573 litres with the seats tumbled. While it’s not the biggest in class, it is very user-friendly with an electronic tailgate (available on certain trims), low loading lip, wide aperture and rubber boot mat.

Dave Humphreys Dave Humphreys

There is useful storage too with large door bins, a deep centre console cubby, decent sized glovebox, and space under the infotainment system for a phone.

Space in the back is great and the rear bench is nice and flat and wide and very comfortable, too. Unlike some of its rivals the rear seats don’t slide or recline – but there is plenty of leg, head and shoulder room for three people back there.

Dave Humphreys Dave Humphreys

In fact the whole cabin is really roomy and thanks to the panoramic sunroof (available on certain trims) there is a feeling of light and spaciousness which adds a pleasant atmosphere to the interior. I was really impressed with just how much space there is in the Forester. Perfect if you have a growing family.

The cabin is laid out really well. Everything felt very sturdy and well screwed together and the materials were of good quality. What it did lack was a certain polish or luxe feel – but then again, the cabin was just so spacious and functional that this didn’t bother me at all.

Dave Humphreys Dave Humphreys

As daily driver, the visibility is wonderful all around so it is perfect for city and town driving and thanks to its high driving position and large windows parking the Forester and manoeuvring in and out of tight spaces is rather easy.

Dave Humphreys Dave Humphreys

Powering the Forester is the latest version of Subaru’s 2.0-litre petrol engine. The boxer layout helps to keep most of the mass low down in the engine bay, and this reflects in the positive feel from the steering. Turn in is quick and throughout a variety of situations, the steering has a good, mechanical feel to it.

The engine doesn’t have masses of power, with a maximum output of 150hp and 198Nm of torque, but it feels adequate for pulling the roomy SUV along at a healthy pace. All petrol engines come with the Lineartronic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission).

Dave Humphreys Dave Humphreys

Usually, CVT units are awful and tend to do little else than send engines into high revs without any relation to forward momentum. Subaru’s new unit uses a chain rather than a belt, and along with some software, tuning results in an effort that’s not bad.

You do need to adjust your driving style to suit it, but then providing you are more conservative with your throttle inputs, it all works reasonably well.

The suspension setup can cope with tackling some real off-road stuff, with approach and departure angles that are among the best in the segment. A 220mm clearance also helps if you end up in the ruts. On the road, it can feel busy on certain surfaces, but most will find it quite comfortable.

Dave Humphreys Dave Humphreys

Overall, whilst the Subaru Forester may not impress in the looks department, it is a very accomplished machine that gets the job done and gets it done well without much fanciness. It is a proper rugged go-anywhere workhorse but one that is family-friendly and comfortable to drive. If you are in the market for a five-seat SUV that is spacious, safe, and reliable you really should put the Subaru Forester on your shopping list.

The Subaru Forest is offered with two engines and is priced from €36,995 for the 147hp 2.0-litre diesel X model with six-speed manual transmission and €37,995 for the 150hp naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre petrol engine with Lineartronic automatic gearbox. The Lineartronic gearbox can also be mated to the diesel engine.

READ: New Tesla Semi Truck and Roadster unveiled >

READ: Review: The Opel Crossland X combines the best of an SUV with an MPV >

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    Mute PADDY MURPHY
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:31 PM

    Better known as empty pockets. Seriously over priced food.

    710
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    Mute Brendan
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    Oct 7th 2015, 10:43 PM

    I wouldn’t pay those prices for a simple burger and chip out of principle nor have I spent a cent in any topaz for a long time dob can go get f ucked before he gets another cent of me

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    Mute John Flood
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    Oct 8th 2015, 9:09 AM

    7 euro hot dog….OMG

    12
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    Mute Stephen Kilbane
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:31 PM

    We’ll all be as fat as yanks

    460
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    Mute alwaysrightokay
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:12 PM

    I’m way ahead of ye.

    158
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    Mute Susan Shearer
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    Oct 7th 2015, 11:20 PM

    Why do you feel the need to insult? I’ve lived in Ireland and can truthfully say I saw as many obese people there as anywhere. In fact, the majority of young women and teen girls I’ve seen in Ireland are pretty dumpy and unfit looking compared to the majority of girls in the US.

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    Mute Daniel Wilson
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    Oct 8th 2015, 7:42 AM

    Yup, Ireland and the UK are two very obese nations

    36
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    Mute Malcolm Lackey
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    Oct 8th 2015, 9:04 AM

    I have to agree with Susan on the young people, especially girls, and it’s the parents faults, all kids get these days is frozen food dinners, this young generation will have the highest cancer rate, simply because they eat and drink shite.

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    Mute John Flood
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    Oct 8th 2015, 9:08 AM

    After a few battered sausages at the chipper… let alone Empty Pockets….

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    Mute Sean Mac Diarmada
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    Oct 8th 2015, 2:10 PM

    I never buy petrol in Redacted O’Swine’s filling stations, and I will not be buying burgers there either.

    15
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    Mute Bob
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:47 PM

    Topaz, the most expensive petrol/diesel in the country. €13 for a burger and a few frozen chips sprinkled with paprika. No thanks. I’ll give both a miss.

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    Mute Peter 'Nocky' Naughnane
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:32 PM

    Introducing the new “DOB grease ball hamburger”.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:44 PM

    I will not be putting any of my money in DOBs pocket.

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    Mute Ray Reilly
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:35 PM

    Great is there not enough over priced food in filling stations already..

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:36 PM

    I always feel posh when I go to Eddie rockets, not any longer!

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    Mute Uncle Monty
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:40 PM

    Me too Stephen. Do you cock your little finger out as you sip your drink, too? I stick the napkin down my t-shirt as I nibble on my burger avec pineapple.

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:46 PM

    The pineapple should be inserted in your other hole. Far too decadent for a hamburger.

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:54 PM

    I just love their personal touch with their in-house somelier who is always there to recommend various brands of Coke, diet coke, coke zero, they have so many. Although if he recommends diet coke to me one more time there might be trouble

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    Mute Uncle Monty
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:57 PM

    I’m sure he is just trying to preserve the fine physique he sees before him. The complimentary crayons are also a nice touch.

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:04 PM

    I know! Finally crayons for adults, I thought no one would ever ask

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    Mute Jamsey
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:30 PM

    Any connection to ‘redacted’ gets a “no thanks” from me.

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    Mute Pronnsias McCarthaigh
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:32 PM

    Barack Obama Plaza should now have its name changed to the Valdimir Putin Plaza.

    143
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    Mute Vincent Sharpe
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:40 PM

    Have not been to a Topaz , and will never give them my custom no matter how they jazz there places up.

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:44 PM

    I’m out, Eddie.
    Poor choice of stablemates.

    115
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    Mute jp quinn
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:16 PM

    Topaz owned by Denis o Brien. He can shove those overpriced burgers up his redacted.

    106
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    Mute Al Ca
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:49 PM

    Topaz?….Eddie Rocket doesn’t have his finger on the pulse.

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    Mute Pronnsias McCarthaigh
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:29 PM

    McEddy Rockets

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    Mute Shane Corry
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:31 PM

    Great to hear jobs wise
    Un-sure about the use of Eddie Rockets and “swanky” in the same sentence though..

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    Mute Joe
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:37 PM

    Eddie Rob Your Pockets

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    Mute Alan b
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:33 PM

    I love Eddie rockets but I think the standard and quality will suffer if you’re buying it from a petrol station

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    Mute Richard Cheney
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:19 PM

    Comment of the Week

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    Mute Bob
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:57 PM

    Greggs are opening up at Applegreen petrol stations.

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    Mute Jamsey
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:02 PM

    Brian Cowan might have to change allegiance…..

    48
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    Mute Maurice Slater
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:57 PM

    no dancing in the forecourts,Eddies the most expensive and coldest fast food on the planet,even the Fonzie would be hard pressed to give eddies the big thumbs up.

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    Mute Richard Cheney
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:18 PM

    Aaaaaaaye

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    Mute james connolly
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:30 PM

    more jobs, fantastic news

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    Mute Thomas Maher
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:52 PM

    Yea, James. Great news. More low skill low paid jobs. But having said that Eddie Rockets dose have the best milk shakes and malts.

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    Mute Anon Ymous
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:57 PM

    Now we can all be as fat as DOB.

    68
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    Mute Supernova
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:40 PM

    Eddie rip off

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    Mute MrsWoman
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:50 PM

    Haven’t been to an Empty Pockets in years. Do they still have that horrendous spray cheese shyte? The “bacon” tasted quite plasticky too from what I recall…

    61
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    Mute Trevor Beale
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:00 PM

    I wouldn’t let my shadow into a topaz

    57
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    Mute Brian Tierney
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:26 PM

    Love Eddie Rockets but it will be a cold day in hell before I go into one in a Topaz station, seriously have to question the reasoning behind getting into bed with Ireland’s most despised man!

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    Mute Watcher-on-the-Wall
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    Oct 8th 2015, 12:17 AM

    They’re trying to fight the spread of the off-shoot “Rockin’ Joe’s”, which were former Empty Pockets, but were no longer prepared to pay the extortionate franchise fees, and so branched out on their own…

    20
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    Mute herman sherman
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:57 PM

    Eddie robyourpockets.your food is stink and way over rated

    52
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    Mute J
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:40 PM

    Barack Obama plaza is a dive.

    48
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    Mute Pronnsias McCarthaigh
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:04 PM

    We actually agree on something.

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    Mute J
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:04 PM

    22

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    Mute Danger Spoons
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:05 PM

    If it’s named after Obama it’s bound to be a sh*t hole

    18
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    Mute mammysdinners
    Favourite mammysdinners
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:08 PM

    Eat fresh and healthy, even more reason to bring your own sambos on a road trip. Given the recent strides in Irish food and tastes, this is like a headline from the 80′s.

    41
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    Mute Integra-Ted
    Favourite Integra-Ted
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:26 PM

    Typical culchies!

    Come up to the big smoke and pack a bag of Hang Sangwiches with your Denny ham slices!
    Yous would all burst if ya had to spend a few euro on food!

    24
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    Mute mammysdinners
    Favourite mammysdinners
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:34 PM

    Denny ham? More like flaked salmon with a chive and lemon mayonnaise for me thanks, but you fire away buying water wafers

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    Mute Sternn
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    Oct 7th 2015, 10:04 PM

    I did enjoy eating there, but as I have already boycotted Topaz I’m more than happy to get my burgers elsewhere as well.

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    Mute Integra-Ted
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:56 PM

    At least ER is better than McDonalds!

    31
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    Mute Pronnsias McCarthaigh
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:32 PM

    At almost twice the price plus the tip you would expect it to be.

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    Mute Dave McCrea
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:03 PM

    too bad the food is barely mediocre at best

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    Mute Mad Taoiseach
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:09 PM

    No thanks. I’ll get my fuel and food at Tesco.

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    Mute Paul Greham
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:58 PM

    Best of British, fair play to you!

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    Mute Niallman Etc
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    Oct 7th 2015, 10:06 PM

    At least he didn’t say “Tesco’s”.

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    Mute Mad Taoiseach
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    Oct 8th 2015, 7:32 AM

    Tesco buy a lot of Irish products.
    They are also the only control mechanism Irish consumers have for semi fair pricing.
    The oil all comes from the same source, none of which is Irish.
    I choose to support British rather than Maltese.
    Remind me again, what does Malta buy from us, how many jobs does Malta deliver to Ireland?
    It’s bloody turkeys like you who think they are being smart by being blindly and stupidly ‘Patriotic’.

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    Mute David Coffey
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:51 PM

    Looking forward to a visit to ERs with my 12 year old son on route to Ireland Germany tomorrow

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    Mute Richard Cheney
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:20 PM

    TMI

    22
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    Mute David Coffey
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    Oct 7th 2015, 7:55 PM

    Thomas, low skilled people need jobs too.

    28
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    Mute Kieran OKeeffe
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    Oct 7th 2015, 10:13 PM

    @David
    Plenty of skilled people doing min wage work in this new bastion of equality..

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    Mute Tomasz Kuchnik
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:52 PM

    Apple Green and Subway for me.

    27
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    Mute Tom Harvey
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:10 PM

    Eddie rockets empty pockets

    15
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    Mute Paul Cushen
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    Oct 7th 2015, 9:20 PM

    the food is shite

    13
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    Mute JustMade Ireland
    Favourite JustMade Ireland
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    Oct 7th 2015, 11:29 PM

    We talk about been healthy sugar tax etc… how come so may petrol now sell fast food and deals on sweets.

    12
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    Mute Philip Mcauliffe
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    Oct 8th 2015, 1:25 AM

    €5.75 for a burger in Rockets Douglas ffs! Stick to the institution that is KC’s. Creole’s all the way… ;-)

    11
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    Mute Kalon Dillon
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    Oct 7th 2015, 10:16 PM

    there chicken burger is terrible. all this green sauce and a cold tomato which makes the sandwich cold. overpriced dirt. can’t beleive it when I see people queuing to get this crap.

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    Mute Susanne Morgan
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    Oct 7th 2015, 8:46 PM

    Will it take over the upstairs restaurant part in the Topaz in Dublin Port or the downstairs one?

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    Mute gary kelly
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    Oct 7th 2015, 10:18 PM

    Nice food and all.but bit too pricey.

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    Mute Pamela Condon
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    Oct 8th 2015, 1:02 AM

    Shame I used to enjoy Eddie’s, RIP

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    Mute Niamhs
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    Oct 8th 2015, 7:21 PM

    I’ll stick with Roma’s meal deals and they deliver so I don’t have to go out to any overpriced petrol station.

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    Mute Debi Nikita
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    Oct 7th 2015, 11:24 PM

    Noooooooo

    3
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    Mute Seán O'Sullivan
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    Oct 17th 2015, 1:08 AM

    Not for me, no more be it burgers or newspapers will I voluntarily give over

    2
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