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An Taoiseach speaking at COP27 this afternoon. Twitter

‘Future generations will not forgive us’: Taoiseach tells COP27 that climate can’t wait

Micheál Martin delivered Ireland’s national statement to the World Leaders Summit at COP27.

LAST UPDATE | 8 Nov 2022

Lauren Boland reports from COP27

THE TAOISEACH HAS urged world leaders not to waste any more time before taking action on the climate, impressing upon them that the situation is “urgent but not hopeless”.

He pushed the clear warning that: “If this generation doesn’t step up urgently, future generations will not forgive us.”

COP27, an international climate confernece, is taking place this week and next week in Egypt, where countries are tasked with trying to negotiate new climate commitments – though even agreeing on an agenda was a drawn-out process.

A World Leaders Summit with heads of state and government from around the world began yesterday with a grim warning from United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres that the world can either “cooperate or perish”.

The Taoiseach addressed the summit this afternoon to a room with delegates from other countries, climate experts, campaigners, and media.

He described how the world is “witnessing the reality of a changing climate” with “record temperatures, wildfires, floods, and droughts”.

“People in the poorest parts of our planet are being driven from regions that can no longer support and sustain them. Climate change is fuelling conflict, global instability, competition for resources and abject human misery,” he said.

The Taoiseach told the summit about Ireland’s targets to reduce emissions 51% by 2030 and to be climate-neutral by 2050 will be “challenging”.

He pointed to measures that Ireland has adopted on climate, such as the international climate finance roadmap – which had been due to be published in the first three months of this year but was released behind schedule in July.

“The burden of climate change globally is falling most heavily on those least responsible for our predicament,” he said.

He warned that people “will become increasingly cynical, weary and hopeless if words are not urgently matched by deeds, if commitments do not generate new realities”.

He said “the situation is urgent, but it is not hopeless” and that the world is making “progress, but it is far from enough”.

“This generation of leaders cannot say that we didn’t know. The science is clear – every tonne of carbon warms the world, every delay makes our task that bit bigger. Let us not waste a second more.”

Summit

The Taoiseach attended a working breakfast with the Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz and the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo this morning where funding was announced under the Global Shield initiative, a finance-protection programme targeted at countries under threat from the climate crisis.

Ireland has committed €10 million to the fund.

However, the move was criticised by activists because the funding relates to financial institutions like insurance rather than directly targeting the impacts of the climate crisis. 

Ahead of delivering Ireland’s national statement to the summit this afternoon, the Taoiseach told Irish media that his address will identify the urgency and necessity of taking action on the climate crisis.

“But also, I will balance it by by saying that people’s behavior is changing,” he said.

“People are making a difference and we can turn the tide. Already there is some evidence that the work of the last decade is bearing fruit but not at the pace that we needed to.

It is important to say to the younger generations that there is hope there, that through proper human behavior and changing how we do things, that we can actually turn this around, and we can protect the planet and understanding the enormous challenges we face.”

Also on the Taoiseach’s agenda today is a meeting with civil society representatives from Ireland who are attending the conference.

“I welcome the civil society contribution. Without civil society, I believe governments in the past would not have been perhaps provoked into action,” he told reporters.

He said that he will meet with representatives later today and that he values their input.

“I think much of the activism of young generations has been very influential in the last decade. I think that’s important and in a liberal democracy we value civil society.”

Adaptation Agenda

Meanwhile, COP27 President Sameh Shoukry released the details today of an Adaptation Agenda, a plan identifying outcomes that the world should aim for to boost resilience for four billion people in communities most vulnerable to climate change by 2030.

The issue of losses and damages that vulnerable countries are suffering due to climate change has quickly emerged as the dominating theme of the conference, and its success will likely be measured by how far developed countries can be pushed to support them. 

The plan focuses on food security and agriculture; water; human settlements; oceans; infrastructure; planning and finance.

The world should enable sustainable agriculture than can increase yields by 17% and reduce emissions by 21%; install early warning systems for extreme events; and allocate at least $10 billion a year to expanding access to clean cooking for 2.4 billion people.

In a statement, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said that “as the growing number of climate emergencies throughout the world clearly shows, focusing on adaptation is a crucial, pressing necessity”.

“The Adaptation Agenda outlines multiple actions and combines the commitments of governments and non-Party stakeholders into a joint vision and a joint plan.

“We need all stakeholders on board to deal with current and future impacts of climate change, and this is a prime example of how that can happen.”

Ditching coal

Yesterday, the EU, along with France and Germany individually and the US and UK, backed a plan by South Africa to transition away from coal with an $8.5 billion deal.

The agreement could provide something of a template for other similar plans at a COP where the impact of the climate crisis on developing countries is at the forefront of minds.

South Africa’s economy currently depends on coal for 80% of its electricity generation.

The funding will be allocated to decommissioning coal power plants and investments to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, according to a joint statement.

US President Joe Biden said: “Our support for South Africa’s clean energy and infrastructure priorities, which include efforts to provide coalminers and affected communities the assistance that they need in this transition, will help South Africa’s clean energy economy thrive.”

Additional reporting by AFP

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    Mute speedy
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    Jul 21st 2021, 7:20 AM

    If the British side break the protocol to suit a few hardline unionists in the north then I hope the eu come down hard on them for breaking an international trade agreement and they are punished by extra tariffs.johnson,Cummings and frost will bring Britain back to the stone age

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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Jul 21st 2021, 9:54 AM

    @speedy: Yes agree and their US trade deal is then history.

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    Mute Mark H
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    Jul 21st 2021, 10:34 AM

    @speedy: if they eliminate checks etc the UK will just become a back door to the EU. No way EU could agree to it. If UK want frictionless trade with the EU, you need to be in the EU. Johnson and his crew are just playing for the UK press… The big bad EU…. Actually it’s the petulant arrogant UK… But facts don’t matter to them.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Jul 21st 2021, 10:53 AM

    @Mark H: They don’t even have to be in the EU, just be part of the customs union, which was on offer to them while negotiating. Remember the Norway style deal that was talked of… yeah.

    132
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    Mute iohanx
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    Jul 21st 2021, 1:54 PM

    @Mark H:

    To use a Wembley analogy, they’re trying to get in for free!

    83
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    Mute Niall O
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    Jul 21st 2021, 3:17 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: Or agree to have a mechanism where the standards will be the same or equivalent. Not the “let’s pretend that our standards are equivalent, even though we might deviate from EU standards”

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    Mute Barry Lynch
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    Jul 21st 2021, 3:46 PM

    @speedy: you forgot Lord Rees of the Moggs.

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    Mute James McErlain
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    Jul 21st 2021, 6:31 PM

    @speedy: Cummings?

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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 11:22 AM

    @Mark H: When have the facts ever mattered to any British Government.

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    Mute Mícheál
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    Jul 21st 2021, 8:08 AM

    wow is this for real .. how can any country any foreign trade minister sign an agreement with Great Britain in the knowledge that they will sign it and then change it to suit themselves, seriously who do these people think they are

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    Mute frank_66
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    Jul 21st 2021, 7:18 AM

    The uk starting to dictate to EU but I think they are wasting their time as the protocol is what they signed up for and the DUP campaigned hard for brexit

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Jul 21st 2021, 7:24 AM

    An “honesty box” ? Yeah, that should work out well.

    407
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    Mute Jayne
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    Jul 21st 2021, 8:05 AM

    @Fr. Fintan Stack: Ha, yeah I laughed out loud at that part. What could possibly go wrong?!

    226
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    Mute David Van-Standen
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    Jul 21st 2021, 9:04 AM

    After years of waiting for the UK to reveal its frictionless technological solution to eliminate customs checks for goods entering Northern Ireland, we are presented with the honesty box!

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    Mute jerry slattery
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    Jul 21st 2021, 8:08 AM

    Breaking the protocol and putting the Good Friday agreement in danger will do them no favors on Capitol Hill .

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    Mute Hugh Mc Donnell
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    Jul 21st 2021, 7:48 AM

    The tories should have been honest in the very beginning with the electorate

    265
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    Mute Niall Lee
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    Jul 21st 2021, 2:53 PM

    @Hugh Mc Donnell: Tories honest…. That shouldn’t be in the one sentence

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    Mute Tony Gordon
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    Jul 21st 2021, 3:14 PM

    @Niall Lee: it’s called an oxymoron

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    Mute Francis Devenney
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    Jul 21st 2021, 9:56 AM

    They used to say “The sun never sets on the empire” I think that’s because even God wouldn’t trust them in the dark.

    265
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    Mute Tony Gordon
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    Jul 21st 2021, 3:15 PM

    @Francis Devenney: or it’s because it never rose in the first place (still in the dark ages)

    40
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    Mute Handsome McWonderful
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    Jul 21st 2021, 8:17 AM

    The Brits are at it again.

    266
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    Mute Fachtna Roe
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    Jul 21st 2021, 12:21 PM

    @Handsome McWonderful: Evidence in support:

    https://arethebritsatitagain.org/

    64
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    Mute Accidental Gentleman
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    Jul 21st 2021, 10:08 AM

    If Brexit has taught us anything, it is that the UK can’t be trusted to tell the truth.

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    Mute David Stapleton
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    Jul 21st 2021, 8:27 AM

    So the only way to make the protocol work is to ignore it and the agreement they signed up to.

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    Mute Darren McEneaney
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    Jul 21st 2021, 9:43 AM

    You’d swear they didn’t help write the thing with the way they’re carrying on

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Jul 21st 2021, 12:42 PM

    Honestly I think it’s just time to take a hard line with Britain, they haven’t approached negotiations in good faith since the outset and seem to think every agreement and promise they’ve made in the past can be broken as they please.

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    Mute Gary G
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    Jul 21st 2021, 10:15 AM

    A tinpot country run by a despot would have more integrity and competence than this lot. Only option now for the EU is hard retaliatory punitive tariffs which will paint these delinquants as the victims for ignoring the deal they made an international law treaty. This statement will be the malicious falsehood that they ever intended to honour or implement the protocol. England / UK is sinking down the toilet under that joke Johnson.

    165
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    Mute Brian Kelly
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    Jul 21st 2021, 9:10 AM

    Really! An honesty box!? I wouldn’t trust the Brits as far as I could throw them!!! What a laugh…

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    Mute MrHammey12
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    Jul 21st 2021, 9:56 AM

    Oh hahaha let’s sign an honesty box with all the cocaine producing countries too!

    113
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    Mute John Vectravi
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    Jul 21st 2021, 3:19 PM

    The NIP was a concession made to the UK by the EU. The UK made the argument that they would implement the checks when they formulated the agreement. All the EU has asked for is that the UK comply with their side of the agreement.
    Today it was stated in the UK parliament that UK suppliers are deciding not to export goods into NI because of the hassle of complying they can’t be bothered to do the necessary paperwork.
    NI are in a unique position that the protocol allows them to export goods into the EU and also into the UK without restrictions. Most UK companies would give their right arm to be able to do the same.
    So, where does the problem seem to be…… The DUP.

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    Mute The Mrs O’B
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    Jul 21st 2021, 1:23 PM

    They need to realise this is not like one of Boris’ revolving marriages – negotiated it, signed up for it – stuck with it -

    81
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    Mute SheepleDog
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    Jul 21st 2021, 11:48 AM

    Global warming, pandemic, age of online misinformation, asymmetric warfare, ransomware, rise of far-right…..and the English; was it ever thus!

    65
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    Mute Irish big fellow
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    Jul 21st 2021, 3:02 PM

    UK should need to consult the dictionary to study the meaning of “honesty “ and then try and understand why other EU countries do not trust them in particular when Johnson is in charge.

    61
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    Mute David Lynch
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    Jul 21st 2021, 12:29 PM

    Wish someone would just tell them to feck off

    105
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    Mute Adrian O'Donnell
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    Jul 21st 2021, 4:04 PM

    @David Lynch: we did, they only got three quarters of the message

    45
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    Mute J Flood
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    Jul 21st 2021, 2:05 PM

    More of the same BS. How long did it take the UK to “negotiate” Brexit?

    60
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    Mute Pádraic Ó Braonáin
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    Jul 21st 2021, 2:29 PM

    Unbelievable arrogance!

    Any nation thinking of doing a trade deal with the UK (under this current government) should think hard and tread cautiously – better still – save yourselves a massive headache – just don’t do it.

    76
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    Mute
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    Jul 21st 2021, 4:22 PM

    U.K attempting to move the goalposts while the match is being played

    47
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    Mute Jim Doherty
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    Jul 21st 2021, 4:19 PM

    An ‘Honesty Box’…operated by the Tories? Hahahaha

    40
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    Mute Josh Joyce
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    Jul 21st 2021, 2:11 PM

    Oven Ready

    41
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    Mute Tom Halpin
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    Jul 21st 2021, 2:36 PM

    Oven ready turkey

    37
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    Mute Bill Spill
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    Jul 21st 2021, 1:45 PM

    I wonder where ‘On the right side’ is? Poor dear.

    27
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    Mute Gary G
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    Jul 21st 2021, 5:49 PM

    @Bill Spill: I hope he has realised that there is no point posting anymore, bar the odd you know who, nobody agrees with him, just laugh at him.

    7
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    Mute Maria Clery-Breen
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    Jul 21st 2021, 2:12 PM

    Who the fook do they think they are ……
    Four years hundreds of thousands of wasted money and time !!M

    48
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    Mute Joe Thorpe
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    Jul 21st 2021, 7:41 PM

    It’s time to collapse the agreement & go to WTO

    10
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    Mute Mona Murphy
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    Jul 21st 2021, 9:06 PM

    @Joe Thorpe: how could anyone trust them in any agreement their goose is well and truly cooked

    7
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    Mute Philip Mulville
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    Jul 21st 2021, 10:10 PM

    What a shower of eejits.

    10
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    Mute Pj Browne
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    Jul 21st 2021, 7:13 PM

    The brits made a nuts of the negotiations and now they want to change it

    14
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    Mute Nigel Barlow
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    Jul 21st 2021, 11:25 PM

    borderless ireland because of the good Friday agreement. So stick a border in the northern part of the Irish Sea – drive a wedge between mainland uk and it’s sovereign country Northern Ireland to protect the good Friday agreement. Oh hold on that can’t be right can it? Guess it is …. Whilst everyone in Europe rejoices at getting one over on the uk the good Friday agreement will unravel. But not because of the uk. If I was frost I’d tell Northern Ireland we tried our best leave matters as they are and wait for the fun and games to start.

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    Mute Gary G
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:27 AM

    @Nigel Barlow: how about the Britain and HMG gives back the country they stole and pillaged back to its rightful owners.

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    Mute Nigel Barlow
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    Jul 23rd 2021, 1:26 AM

    @Gary G: quite welcome to It

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    Mute Gregory Casey
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    Sep 10th 2021, 9:12 AM

    That’s Feck with a ‘eU’

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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 11:31 AM

    What amazing is they continue to go this route after the G8 and the G20 meetings. Where they were clearly told by the rest of the world. Don’t even try and do this.
    Irish hory indeed world history has so many examples of the British and “Honesty”.
    Yet the expect everybody to agree with this.
    An agreement they insisted upon and agreed to, now they have changed their mind because of their own red tape, which they insisted upon.
    I expected them to pull some dirty tricks but nothing as simple minded as this.
    The laughable part is they are saying they got great trade deals from other countries and so far every one of them is worse than the present EU deal.
    The have not move the goalposts, they are trying to change the game and the rules as they go along. The rest of the world is sharpening their knives as the realise how weak the Uk government are.

    1
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