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MPs could vote on May's deal for FOURTH time as it's warned hard Brexit is 'nearly inevitable'

Meanwhile, Leo Varadkar said: “No one should underestimate the difficulties that a no deal will present.”

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Theresa May may bring her Brexit deal before the House of Commons for a fourth time after MPs rejected alternative options in a series of votes last night.

Four options were voted on by MPs yesterday, with the motion on staying in a customs unions only three votes shy of passing.

Here’s how they voted:

  • Customs Union – Ayes 273, Nos 276
  • Common Market 2.0 – Ayes 261, Nos 282
  • Confirmatory Public Vote – Ayes 280, Nos 292
  • Revoke Article 50 if faced with no-deal Brexit – Ayes 191, Nos 292

The votes, like the eight motions rejected by MPs last Wednesday, were indicative rather than legally binding.

Nick Boles, the pro-EU Tory MP who had backed the Common Market 2.0 option, resigned the party whip in the immediate aftermath of the results being announced. 

May is set to hold a five-hour Cabinet meeting today to discuss how to move forward. 

After receiving a short extension, Britain now has 10 days to either request more time or leave the European Union without a deal.

An extraordinary meeting of the European Council is due to be held on 10 April, two days before the UK must indicate a way forward.

The Withdrawal Agreement struck between May’s government and the EU may now be voted on for a fourth time. An amendment could be added to it to make it different from previous versions that were voted on, in a bid to appease Speaker of the House John Bercow.

If MPs are asked to vote on the deal once more, this would likely happen tomorrow. If it’s rejected again, there is speculation that a general election could be called in a bid to break the political deadlock.

Given the uncertainty of the coming weeks and months, preparations for a no-deal Brexit are continuing.

Responding to last night’s votes, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said a hard Brexit is becoming “nearly inevitable”.

Speaking in Brussels this morning, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier echoed this sentiment, saying a no-deal scenario “becomes day after day more likely”. However, he said he hopes such an outcome can still be avoided. 

‘No one should underestimate the difficulties’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris today to discuss Brexit. 

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Varadkar thanked France for its “ongoing solidarity” and “the clear commitment that the Withdrawal Agreement must include an operational backstop to avoid a hard border” on the island of Ireland.

“I am keen to discuss the possible scenarios arising from this week, particularly how the European Council should respond to a request for another extension, should there be one, and ongoing efforts to secure ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.”

Varadkar said “it is now up to the UK to show how it plans to proceed and avoid a no-deal scenario”, adding:

We are preparing for all outcomes, and have prepared intensively for a no deal. But no one should underestimate the difficulties that a no deal will present, for all of us.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to travel to Dublin on Thursday to discuss Brexit with Varadkar. 

Contains reporting from © AFP 2019  

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42 Comments
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    Mute jrbmc
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    Aug 14th 2012, 12:41 PM

    The Hole just keeps getting bigger and bigger for this government

    183
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    Mute connor graham
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:12 PM

    Heard this yesterday on Liveline what a complete clown Ring is , just shows the level of intelligence we are dealing with here as if things are not bad enough in the hospital system we have to listen to a govt minister spout this type of insensitive rubbish

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    Mute Jon S W Rainey
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:22 PM

    I suffer from an auto-immune disease through no fault of my own and played sports up until after my diagnosis 12 years ago. I’ve spent the last 5 days chasing down a lightweight self propelled wheelchair through HSE and spent 4 hours yesterday trying to get hold of my medical team to discuss getting an x-ray in Cappagh because I was turned away from Cavan General because they feared “My hip was part of a recall and would not be able to help”. Michael Ring and rest of FG seem intent on rubbing the entire country up the wrong way. Idiots. They have NO IDEA what is happening in real world, to families, small businesses and communities. How dare Michael Ring say monies would be better spent on sport that hospitals. How about the money would be better spent on hospitals than Phil Hogans 9,000euro day trip, 6,000euro coffee machines. Not to mention the freebies … what do TDs and Senators do with their iPhones when they replace them every 18 months with publically subsidised new models??give them back?? Or scores of laptops??? The waste is unreal. Shut up Michael Ring & FG!

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    Mute Aidan Geraghty
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    Aug 14th 2012, 3:03 PM

    He said money in hospitals, not in health care. There is a distinct difference.

    investments are a shambles unless the trouble makers and heavily union protected staff are pushed out so that the money can actually be used for front line treatments, and not paying for a nurse to come in at double time because the other nurse refused to work twenty mins over her contract time because her union said so.

    Surely you see some logic in this?

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    Mute Sharon Barry
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    Aug 14th 2012, 3:20 PM

    Shame on the 14 people who disliked the comment from Jon S W Rainey this is how people live i the real world we are all not part of the L oreal i worth it world .

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    Mute Mark O Brien
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    Aug 15th 2012, 7:49 AM

    @aidan. would you work overtime that you werent getting payed for? the hse are chancing their arm bringing in more and more rediculous rules and cutbacks and unless somebody stood up to them and said NO then they would walk all over their staff!!

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    Mute Aidan Geraghty
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    Aug 15th 2012, 11:43 AM

    @mark this is EXACTLY the attitude that has brought down the system or at least prevented it from being fixed.you mean you’d just run at the sound of the bell like a school yard kid? YES I would work over twenty mins and I have done lots more than that because I work in the private sector. Because attitudes like that snowballed due to do many of them, the sector could not afford to claw back these costs because now it would be too much of an ask to staff, hence you see the present situation.

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    Mute Mark O Brien
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    Aug 15th 2012, 3:02 PM

    this “attitude” has absolutely nothing to do with the way the system turned out!! i dont run like a school kid when the bell goes at 5 i often work long after 5 but if i work overtime i get payed for the time i work. and regardless of wether you work in private or public sector if you are happy to work overtime without pay or get walked all over (not saying you are aidan) then thats your decision. if you are a nurse for example getting physically and or sexually assaulted in your place of work then its hard to go along with bosses who are clearly not on your side!!!!

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    Mute Jason 0'Toole
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    Aug 14th 2012, 12:53 PM

    Obviously very badly worded but correct in what he was trying to convey.A fitter population means less stress on a broken healthcare system

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    Mute Stephen Madden
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:33 PM

    Well really he was taking about investment in Elite sports athletes. It’s not at all clear that winning medals in an Olympics makes the rest of the population fitter. Just looks at the top nation in London2012 (and most years) – the USA. Despite their huge Olympics success (and hosting the games on several occasions) they have an obesity epidemic.

    Compare that to a country like Finland with limited international sporting success but one of Europe’s healthiest populations. There the focus is on wide spread participation for all. Basically, there’s no point spending millions on a World class veledrome when kids can’t cycle to school safely.

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    Mute Mark Dennehy
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:55 PM

    I don’t think you could take his speech yesterday as a coherent expression of policy :D

    The idea – which isn’t native to Ireland and has been adopted for many years both here and abroad – is that investing in sport leads to fitter people in the population, and that combats the epidemics of chronic conditions like obesity and type two diabetes and arthritis and other conditions we see when people live sedentary lives as they age.

    It’s not a bad idea. It just doesn’t mean “put money into sport *instead* of hospitals”. It’s more like “think of sport as a part of a long-term healthcare programme”.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Aug 14th 2012, 12:42 PM

    Depidy Ring is a bit of a fool.

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    Mute rusty9
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    Aug 14th 2012, 5:47 PM

    PEtr, he’s not a bit of a fool, he is a full blown obnoxious idiot.

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Aug 15th 2012, 11:23 PM

    Strange….you can call him a full-blown obnoxious idiot but if you dare say that Michael talks through his Ring, as I did, you’ll be censored, as I was and probably will be again.. Get over your sensitivities and apply your own comments policy properly for once Journal…

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    Mute BILL RYAN
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    Aug 14th 2012, 12:56 PM

    Think folks just looking for something to be offended about the guy was simply referring to the benefits of sport and exercise nothing more.

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    Mute paul mc
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    Aug 14th 2012, 12:59 PM

    So his meaning was clear and we all agree with the sentiment . . . yet we’re still going to hound him because he phrased it awkwardly?

    Oh come on. There are bigger fish to fry. Really.

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    Mute Eileen Gabbett
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    Aug 14th 2012, 12:48 PM

    This man is a Minister ! What a stupid comment. He should be better at speech making anyway and nmot say things that can be misinterpreted.Fool . We all know sport is beneficial, even walking is good for those of us not sporty .

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    Mute Ryan Allen
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    Aug 14th 2012, 5:47 PM

    @ Eileen: I wish we ALL did:

    “Extrapolation from authoritative UK data suggests that these numbers could now amount to more than 300,000 overweight and obese children on the island of Ireland and they are probably rising at a rate of over 10,000 per year.”

    “This year about 2,000 premature deaths in Ireland will be attributed to obesity and the numbers are growing relentlessly. Diseases which proportionally more obese people suffer from than the general population include hypertension, type 2 diabetes, angina, heart attack and osteoarthritis. There are indirect costs also such as days lost to the workplace due to illness arising from obesity and output foregone as a result of premature death. Using the accepted EU environmental cost benefit method, these deaths alone may be costing the state as much as €4bn per year.”

    - Department of Health and Children, National Taskforce on Obesity

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    Mute Eileen Gabbett
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    Aug 14th 2012, 8:03 PM

    Ryan Allen .
    I am not going to argue the point of your statistics. I am not sporty and never was but I do walk daily when I can … However his comments hurt people who are presently waiting for medical assistance and or intervention,for what ever reason that may be. I just think the man , like his leader and cabinet colleagues , should think before they speak. They are very good at putting the boot when it is least necessary and always towards the most vulnerable among us.
    Of course we may all benefit from extra exercise and it should be encouraged where at all possible BUT to come along and say ”Money spent on sport; it’s better than putting it into hospitals, into consultants, into doctors and the more it can get people participating in sport, the better.” is a little more than insensitive in my book.

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    Mute Marist '59
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:19 PM

    Well, I for one understood what he was saying. Just like in business, if you fix the problem upstream, in this case by encouraging a healthy lifestyle, then you don’t have to spend €Ms on hospitals and consultants. I don’t have much faith in any government ministers but this guy was putting a valid point across.

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    Mute Eamonn Comerford
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    Aug 14th 2012, 12:49 PM

    Parish pump politics from Ring hospital and sports funding will be cut

    51
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    Mute Patrick Lyons
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:29 PM

    This is factually correct and quite simple. You would have to be a complete and utter Shinner to misunderstand the message – exercise reduces hospital risk.

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    Mute Fergus Lynch
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:36 PM

    What have SF got to do with this? Must be something in your warped British mind.

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    Mute Dave Sherman
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:51 PM

    Not necessarily, more exercise leads to increase soft tissue injuries which leads to hospital visits…

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    Mute Damocles
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:54 PM

    I thought it was obvious what he meant. Healthy, fit people are less likely to need hospitalisation. Prevention is better than cure.

    That he has caused outrage is testament to his inability to articulate and the inability of others to fathom what he meant.

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    Mute censored
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    Aug 14th 2012, 5:16 PM

    Exactly, we can infer what he meant from his garbled message. He’s a politician, but is unable to communicate clearly .. still there are simpletons out there (^^^^) who can’t understand why this might be considered a bad thing.

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    Mute Orly
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:11 PM

    How tactless. Obviously there’s a new foot in mouth epidemic…

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    Mute Brian
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:20 PM

    Nothing to see here now folks, move along

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    Mute Martin Ryan
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:16 PM

    And the mask slips…again. A trait of this Government.

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    Mute rusty9
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    Aug 14th 2012, 3:01 PM

    Michael Ring is an idiot. I have personally experienced him making entirely inappropriate comments.
    Time to cut this obnoxious little man down to size and let him know . that we are paying his wages and he is accountable to us.

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:20 PM

    Does the man not have a speech writer, or can he not at least run what he’s going to say by someone in his department? Foot-in-mouth syndrome!

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    Mute paul mc
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    Aug 14th 2012, 3:39 PM

    If he hired a speechwriter, this outrage would be replaced along the lines of ‘MICHAEL RING SPENDS €50K OF OUR TAX MONEY ON A SPEECHWRITER, WHY CAN’T HE DO IT HIMSELF’.

    Then he’d let the speechwriter go, and we’d have ‘MICHAEL RING IS WASTING HIS TIME WRITING SPEECHES WHEN HE SHOULD BE FIXING THE COUNTRY’.

    Can’t win, really.

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    Mute Gagsy 99
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    Aug 14th 2012, 2:06 PM

    A non-story.

    Who’d be a politician having to carefully sanitise every utterance to avoid the bandwagon inferring non-existent meaning?

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    Mute Barry McSweeney
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    Aug 15th 2012, 11:29 AM

    Why not when there are brown nosers like you who ignore what he actually said and try to spin it as something else?

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    Mute Kay Tighe
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    Aug 14th 2012, 1:21 PM

    This man needs a PA to “word” his speeches for him

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    Mute john g mcgrath
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    Aug 14th 2012, 3:49 PM

    That’s a real val Falvey T D moment.
    I’m sure he’s a nice man but dim I’m afraid

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    Mute Peter Feehan
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    Aug 14th 2012, 4:07 PM

    Oh come on. Surely this just goes to show the carelessness of the government if they cant even write a speech that shows no sympathy to those hurt most by the economic turmoil.

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    Mute Sean Slevin
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    Aug 14th 2012, 4:51 PM

    The man doesnt need a speech writer. He needs pronunciation lessons. He sounds like a Pat Shortt.
    What is it with the west of Ireland and the way they pronounce things?
    Guess who I was playing Tinnis with last week? Inda Kinny.
    Do you get the pint I’m making?

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    Mute Christopher Duffy
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    Aug 14th 2012, 6:19 PM

    He was the finest bread man in Ireland before entering politics. A tactless coffin -chasing ‘know-nothing’.

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    Mute Graham Mace
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    Aug 14th 2012, 8:52 PM

    This wasn’t Michael Ring’s finest hour, but he isn’t the greatest orator. All the same he makes more of an effort to help his constituents than a hell of a lot of them that I could mention. I think the sentiment of a healthy, fit population is more a dream than a reality, but its no worse than the ideas Dev entertained.

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    Mute Mjhint
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    Aug 14th 2012, 4:47 PM

    These are the clowns we get when we need people to run the country. If you want a car license you must jump through all kinds of hoops. No matter what industry you are in now the training is quiet intense & most if us sit exams. Its time we brought some professionalism to politics. Lucky for this guy he has plenty of company in the dail. The Irish people must change this.

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    Mute Lex Long
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    Aug 14th 2012, 4:10 PM

    I can see were he is coming from. Organised sports events can lead to a healthier society as well as giving kids something better to do than hang around street corners.

    However the words were very poorly chosen. As a junior minister I would expect a little preparation before he made any speech. A senior politician from any party should show more tact and care.

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    Mute Maria Noonan
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    Aug 14th 2012, 6:52 PM

    I would like to think he regrets it but so pathetic a statement for anyone to hear that is working in or attending or indeed trying to attend a hospital.

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    Mute harpurlee
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    Aug 14th 2012, 5:54 PM

    What a tool, talk about jumping on the bandwagon, what money is he talking about anyway, when Katie Taylor was training down at the boxing club in bray
    She had no toilet facilities and had to use one of the local pubs, it took a business man from monaghan to pay for a toilet and shower to be built at a cost of €25k, even eithne kenny visited Katie training and didnt provide any funding so these politicians are just full of s@@t he’s now talking out his ring

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    Mute Graham Mace
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    Aug 14th 2012, 8:43 PM

    Why we need a minister for sport is beyond me. I can appreciate the importance of tourism as a generator of income. And isn’t there already a clown called Leo in transport?? If people want to partake in sport then it’s bugger all to do with the govt, let the GAA look after it, they can be trusted not feck it up in the same way as the politicians. Michael meant no harm, but he does seem to have put his foot in it.
    And don’t think that if we were all athletic types that there would be less strain on the health resources. There’s a massive multimillion dollar global business in “Sport-related injuries” – different ailments but still expensive to treat.

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    Mute seamus ryan
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    Aug 14th 2012, 10:26 PM

    Ive read his comment again and I have to say that I have changed my opinion from the time I heard it live. Sentiment right…..wording all wrong but still I think his speech was cringeworthy and embarressing. Of all the speakers yesterday he was the only person that stood and shouted as if he was out on the election trail. Every time the camera panned around the room people were lookinh at the floor or out the windows. My point again…..is this what we have representing us?

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    Mute Jim Walsh
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    Aug 14th 2012, 5:27 PM

    Dear God, talk about people looking to find offence. Get over yourselves. Perhaps it wasn’t worded the best but the meaning of what he was saying was clear and practically everybody knows what he was trying to say.

    Its a well know fact and policy that the more active people are in their lifestyle the less likely they are to be unfit, ill and needing of hospital care. Of course it doesn’t fit all as Jon Rainey points out above. People become ill for many reasons and sometimes for reasons that they can’t avoid. However in general the less active you are the more likely you are to suffer for health problems in the longer term and thus costs increase. Preventative medicine is a well know practice and one that is advocated by all health practioners and groups.

    But of course there’s nothing like a bit of fake outrage to get the Journal commentators going isn’t there!

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    Mute Mjhint
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    Aug 14th 2012, 5:42 PM

    Jim I know you can make excuses for the well intentioned but this guy got up on the podium & made a speech that was truely cringe worthy. I have nothing personal against this man but he commands a large salary. As someone that ran a business I would not have him working for me if he was presenting a product to my customers. So I dont want him having an important job in government. The problem we have is at least 60% of our politicians are this incompatent & we as a nation must change that. Its no good saying “he fixed the road”.

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    Mute peter
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    Aug 14th 2012, 9:55 PM

    As soon as i heard it i knew there would an a storm

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    Mute Brenda Murphy
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    Aug 14th 2012, 8:36 PM

    His grammer leaves a lot to be desired also.

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    Mute Graham Mace
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    Aug 14th 2012, 8:46 PM

    So does your spelling!
    Unless, by “grammer”, you allude to a pet name for yer granny!!

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    Mute Brenda Murphy
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    Aug 14th 2012, 8:48 PM

    Im not a minister of State!

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    Mute Paul
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    Aug 14th 2012, 2:41 PM

    It’s all in the syntax

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Aug 15th 2012, 3:34 PM

    I fell in to a burning ring of fire….down down down but the flames went higher…..burn burn burn….the ring of fire…the ring of fire…do do do …do do ..do do do…..

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