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Enda Kenny speaking with Angela Merkel during the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday. Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite looks on. Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/Press Association Images

Govt insists agreement to address bank debt stands, FF says it's in denial

The government has continued to insist a deal on Ireland’s debt still stands despite comments from the German chancellor yesterday.

JOBS MINISTER RICHARD Bruton has insisted that the agreement between EU leaders on addressing Ireland’s bank debt still stands despite comments from German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday.

Bruton was backing up the government’s continued insistence that negotiations surrounding the retroactive use of the eurozone bailout fund – the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) – to lessen the burden of Ireland’s bank debt are ongoing.

This comes in spite of Merkel saying yesterday that retroactive direct capitalisation of banks was not possible in response to a question about the Spanish banking issue.

Bruton said that an agreement between leaders in June to examine the sustainability of Irish debt still stood, telling RTÉ Radio: “The June agreement absolutely still stands and that means there is to be  separation between banking and government debt.”

Fianna Fáil has said that the government “seems to be in denial” about how significant Merkel’s comments are and said that comments from a German spokesperson today that it will continue to “co-operate closely” with the Irish government does not clarify the situation.

The party’s finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said: “The comments we heard this morning from the German spokesperson do not address the key issue of whether legacy bank debt will be dealt with through the ESM.”

McGrath said that the Germans had not clarified the situation and that a statement from the finance ministers of the Netherlands, Finland and Germany last month coupled with Merkel’s comments last night indicated “that legacy bank debt will not be addressed by the ESM”.

On Saturday with Claire Byrne, Bruton was insisted that there would be “direct action on the sustainability of the Irish debt position” and was insistent that negotiations will continue.

He added: “We’re used to seeing expressions of disbelief in one route or another but that’s the course of negotiation and we also have many allies.

“On the very same day (as Merkel’s comments) others said directly the opposite. So I think there’s a lot of work to be done here.”

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams called on the government to change tactics and said that EU leaders and banks were not taking the Irish government seriously on the issue of bank debt.

He said: “The fact is that this Government has never seriously sought a bank debt write down despite all its pre-election commitments and its recent public pronouncements. Instead they have borrowed €67 billion from the Troika and given €64 billion of this to the banks.

Read: Merkel rules out backdated ESM help for bailing out Europe’s banks

Read: Here’s the exact transcript of Angela Merkel’s comments in Brussels

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40 Comments
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    Mute Val
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:03 AM

    He’s not wrong, say what you want about RBB but his heart is in the right place and I’d vote for him over the current troglodytes we currently have ‘serving’ the country.

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    Mute lavbeer
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    Aug 7th 2016, 5:49 PM

    Agreed. Amend the 8th to allow for the “law of unintended consequences” so these situations can be dealt with.

    10
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    Mute von
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:22 AM

    People of Ireland should realise we do not need old boys school ruling the Country. FF FG and Lab must be got rid of or this Country will get worse.

    188
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    Mute Brian Holmes
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    Aug 7th 2016, 7:51 AM

    Socialist polices are great until you run out of other people’s money

    178
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    Mute john Appleseed
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:00 AM

    Is that you Margaret?

    80
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    Mute Rocky Raccoon
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:07 AM

    Did you come up with that one yourself Brian?

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    Mute brian boru
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    Aug 7th 2016, 10:25 AM

    How can you run out of money when you can print it when you need it ?

    Socialist policies are essential to ensure our society remains a fantastic place to live. The economics is important but the people are what make the country and socialist policies serve the people not the economy. A constant state of friction between the two sides keeps the balance. That’s why it’s such a good thing to see the fiannas on the same bench the illusion of friction is gone and we can deal with the reality of the situation. RBB has punched way above my single member of the fiannas and when it comes to improving our society.

    49
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:25 AM

    you driving around on privately built and maintained roads there Brian?

    28
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    Mute Jim Hartnett
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:21 PM

    As opposed to capitalist policies which have resulted in the greatest transfer of money from the public purse to private gambling institutions ever. Yeah, capitalism rocks.

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    Mute Margie Murph
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:24 PM

    No Johnny.

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    Mute john Appleseed
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    Aug 7th 2016, 7:58 AM

    Pay your own legal fees, you scrounger.

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    Mute rodrigo detriano
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:46 AM

    I listen to him speaking, and I feel inspired to get up off my backside and help make a difference! I listen to Enda Kenny, Michael Noonan and co, and I immediately reach for a corkscrew.

    144
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    Mute Motherofdivinejebus
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    Aug 7th 2016, 9:16 AM

    I think you are mixing him up with Paul Murphy appleseed,
    if you are gonna troll, at least get it right and you still got 48 green thumbs – Jesus, but the FG shlls and dopes are out early for a Sunday morning.

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    Mute richard fennessy
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    Aug 7th 2016, 9:57 AM

    Wrong fella John

    70
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:25 AM

    that is slightly embarrassing

    42
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    Mute Paddy Scully
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:38 AM

    Cultural Communism personified. What you fail to do by might, may just succeed in doing by wisely words.

    95
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    Mute Chris Boyd
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    Aug 7th 2016, 10:51 AM

    Helping to organise hundreds of thousands on the streets that sent the govt backtracking on water charges and other issues isn’t cultural communism.

    88
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:22 AM

    wisely words?

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    Mute Pádraig Ó Raghaill
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:31 AM

    Globalisation, Socialism, Communism, Capitalism & Class Structures explained

    Soon as people hear the big Socialism word they start to lose their heads, and the next stop is Communism. That piece of golden gilded ignorance spruiked from the shores of Nantucket to Bondi and to be honest, gives my goat, a severe mohawk.
    http://www.tworoundcorners.com/globalisation-socialism-communism-capitalism-class-structures-explained/

    36
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    Mute Chlorines72
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:39 AM

    The Frankfurt School were a group of Marxist Jewish intellectuals at Frankfurt University in the 1920-1930′s.

    They fled to NYC after Hitler came to power. They included Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse & Erich Fromm, and were responsible for the “New Left” and feminism. Financed by Jewish millionaire Felix Weill.

    These are the main points of Cultural Communism according to this article The Frankfurt School: Conspiracy to corrupt by Timothy Matthews

    To further the advance of their ‘quiet’ cultural revolution – but giving us no ideas about their plans for the future – the School recommended (among other things):

    1. The creation of racism offences.
    2. Continual change to create confusion
    3. The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children
    4. The undermining of schools’ and teachers’ authority
    5. Huge immigration to destroy identity.
    6. The promotion of excessive drinking
    7. Emptying of churches
    8. An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime
    9. Dependency on the state or state benefits
    10. Control and dumbing down of media
    11. Encouraging the breakdown of the family

    http://whale.to/c/frankfurt_school1.html

    14
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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:10 PM

    I wondered about the reliability of these statements until I saw they came from a site with the term “Catholicinsight” in it. Now I know it’s totally unreliable…..

    48
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    Mute Pádraig Ó Raghaill
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:22 PM

    The Frankfurt School and Critical Theory

    The Frankfurt School, also known as the Institute of Social Research (Institut für Sozialforschung), is a social and political philosophical movement of thought located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is the original source of what is known as Critical Theory. The Institute was founded, thanks to a donation by Felix Weil in 1923, with the aim of developing Marxist studies in Germany. The Institute eventually generated a specific school of thought after 1933 when the Nazis forced it to close and move to the United States, where it found hospitality at Columbia University, New York.
    http://www.iep.utm.edu/frankfur/

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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:23 PM

    you know something titled “Conspiracy” is going to be a reliably sourced and balanced analysis

    24
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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:30 PM

    Chlorines — That is hilarious, made-up Jibberish. Can you tell me what Frankfurt School scholar wrote about any of those things?

    18
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    Mute Chlorines72
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:34 PM

    Ironically Jester, one of the techniques of Cultural Marxism is weaponizing language through political correctness.

    They’ve thought you quite well :)

    12
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    Mute Chlorines72
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:45 PM

    Petr Tarasov -here are some quotes from key players in the Cultural Marxist/School of Frankfurt movement:

    “…to organize the intellectuals and use them to make Western civilization stink. Only then, after they have corrupted all its values and made life impossible, can we impose the dictatorship of the proletariat.”

    Willi Münzenberg

    “I want a culture of pessimism … a world abandoned by God”

    Georg Lukacs

    9
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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Aug 7th 2016, 5:27 PM

    A culture of pessimism? Is that why the middle Star Wars trilogy exists?

    7
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    Mute Stephanie Barry
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    Aug 10th 2016, 1:35 AM

    The wording seems archaic – seems to be a ‘ye olde’ saying. Another variation – you catch more flies with honey that vinegar!

    1
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    Mute Patrick Gough
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:27 AM

    The housing problem is insoluable. airbnb is taking huge numbers of properties off the market. Brexit is going to bring 100s of financial workers to dublin as companies relocate. things are going to get much worse. The water protests were a stupid side show.

    47
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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:44 AM

    Hahaha… I know individual companies that are relocating 1000′s

    36
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    Mute Motherofdivinejebus
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    Aug 7th 2016, 9:20 AM

    Water charges a stupid sideshow??
    are you having a laugh? – they are as good as gone, there is absolutely no way 900,000 people are going to pay in 9 months time, the government and people like you are too stupid to see that the idea of future privatisation of our water supply is dead and buried.
    Richard Boyd Barret and others like him did a good thing when they helped spearhead the campaign.
    If you think it is a sideshow, get ready to see a crowd in September lol

    118
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    Mute David Murphey
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    Aug 7th 2016, 9:57 AM

    PBP: the party of placards and protests, and very little else.

    PBP have how many TDs? Is it three? Great. Only 77 more to go until they can form a government and actually achieve something. Until then, they are irrelevant.

    40
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    Mute Motherofdivinejebus
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    Aug 7th 2016, 10:23 AM

    AH, Murphey, there you are – U still butt hurt over the water protests? – Need a hug hon??
    PBP and other small parties proved that it is possible to galvanise people from all walks of life and form a national movement, against things Irish Water and the housing crisis.
    The likes of this small party have shaken the political foundations to its core in this country, and Irish politics will never be the same again thanks to them.

    61
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:28 AM

    David you seem to be overlooking the role of constituency politics

    18
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    Mute rewop
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    Aug 7th 2016, 10:11 AM

    I remember protesting against the Iraq war and Barrett tried to hijack the whole thing with socialism cause. Wider agenda the whole time. Best avoided.

    38
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    Mute David Murphey
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    Aug 7th 2016, 10:22 AM

    Same with Black Lives Matter protest at GPO on 12 July.

    PBP got placards printed with a line at the bottom saying “Join People Before Profit”.

    29
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:29 AM

    politicians with an agenda?? stone the crows!!

    32
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    Mute Sea View
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:13 AM

    I hear from a certain spokesperson that women are being pressurised by doctors into going for abortions in the cases of FFA …Yet this certain person won’t bring this information to the relevant authorities ..Or they won’t let them share their massive airtime that they get – to tell their stories..

    #givethemavoice(ora

    26
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    Mute Em Ni Mhurchu
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:32 AM

    ‘I heard from a certain spokesperson’……..rubbish!!!

    69
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    Mute Sea View
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:37 AM

    My bad!

    It was also about the 2% of people that she said were showing regret for having had an abortion..

    Why won’t she allow these people airtime with her ?

    #givethemavoice(ora

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    Mute Em Ni Mhurchu
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    Aug 7th 2016, 8:44 AM

    Who said this? How did she arrive at a figure of 2%? What report is it based on? It’s impossible to take your comment seriously unless you can provide some facts..

    49
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:30 AM

    i heard from a certain spokesperson that you’re a spoofer Sea View

    26
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    Mute Sea View
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    Aug 7th 2016, 4:35 PM

    “Some quote studies that show “2% of women regret their abortions”. Do we limit the experiences of any other victim of trauma like this?” -Cora Sherlock on her Twitter Page

    3:33 am – 27 Jul 2016

    Glad to be of help !

    As a “spoofer” I personally would have said 5% ..

    Jester – How’s the craic?

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    Mute Sea View
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    Aug 7th 2016, 4:37 PM

    Emma – as Tom Burke would say to us on here : ‘Calm the Ham’

    3
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    Mute Alois Irlmaier
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    Aug 7th 2016, 5:54 PM

    Was it Maggy Thatcher???

    1
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    Mute Joey_Westland
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    Aug 7th 2016, 10:35 AM

    Pity the interview wasn’t recorded.
    Much prefer to hear a person speaking rather than reading through selected snippets.

    25
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:23 AM

    watch Oireachtas tv so you’ll get plenty of uninterrupted rambling

    21
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    Mute Joey_Westland
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:37 AM

    Personal interviews are more revealing than scripted speeches.
    Have to say though Richard Boyd Barret is one of the finest orators in the Dail currently.
    His contributions are always well crafted, to the point and spoken from the heart.
    A vital cog in the wheel of the opposition.

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    Mute John Fergus
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    Aug 7th 2016, 1:24 PM

    I agree with some of the positions he puts forward but by and large the far radical left seems to hate the working classes. Its leadership is mostly made up of d4 middle class toffs who are so far removed from reality its scary. They talk about broken health, housing and other public services but somehow they think that by dumping 10000s of state dependant economic migrants on them that will somehow help…….Leftie logic.
    They rightly talk about the EU and its role in the financial rape and asset stripping of this country. Then at the same time they will unequivocally defend the EU and how “it champions workers rights” by financially crippling them and making them dependent on the state by passing laws and regulations only big multinationals can keep up with…….Leftie logic.
    Their minds work in strange ways. They will argue points based on emotion but will blindly ignore facts and reasoned logic that disagree with their narrative. If worst comes to worst they will attack the character of the person opposing them rather than dealing with their points. Eg. If someone points out the huge increase in crimes, robberies sexual assaults since hge migrant inflows began then that person must be a racist, an islamaphobe etc. but it can never be acknowledged that they have a point. If someone points out how licrous and utterly impractical ideas like same sex bathrooms, more environmental regs etc. are then they must be a homophobe, transphobe, (insert pc friendly marxist term here)phobe and hate saving the polar bears. But they can never have a point and there can never be any discussion. Its crap like this that causes the rise of people like Trump and makes a generation of state dependant, insecure easily offended snowflakes.

    24
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    Mute AtheistsFor8th
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    Aug 7th 2016, 10:50 AM

    At it’s heart, the campaign to repeal the 8th Amendment is about the destruction of unborn human life.

    People of all faiths and none will unite to defeat this anti-human rights initiative.

    23
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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:27 AM

    wouldn’t ’8theists’ have been a better name?

    30
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    Mute Team Tariq
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:33 PM

    It’s not a genuine account, it quotes and uses the radical fundamentalist American language of the religious right. Just like when they realised they had to move the argument away from ‘religious reasons’, this is another attempt at dishonesty from the Anti-Choice Militia, pretending atheists are against women’s rights, I’m sure there are one or two, but not sufficient numbers that they would bother to set up an account like this. Also they have hidden who is running the account which is further evidence that it is a Youth Defence troll account trying to distance their movement from Jesus freaks.

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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Aug 7th 2016, 5:32 PM

    Probably the same hackjob as Artistsfor8th and other aliases, basically setting up counter twitter names to actual groups campaining against the 8th amendment.

    5
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    Mute Teene Nyantoon
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    Aug 7th 2016, 11:50 AM

    Their alot of very dubious abortion “research” online, it hits you once you google womenonweb, you’ll get breast cancer etc All from the christian far right. Same people that want trump elected in america.

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    Mute Teene Nyantoon
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    Aug 7th 2016, 1:21 PM

    Very nice people :) gods people are.

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    Mute Mindfulirish
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    Aug 7th 2016, 1:26 PM

    Angry men are dangerous to society – history tells us small angry men are the worst. It’s not the country’s fault he is a small inadequate man.

    17
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    Mute Austin Rock
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    Aug 7th 2016, 2:18 PM

    Thats funny – but true!

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    Mute James Keogh
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    Aug 7th 2016, 3:09 PM

    We all have opinions and issues, however we all don’t have a soapbox to voice our words from. Barrett is one of those elected people who condemns and knocks everything that is progressive and continuously spews out criticism instead of rowing with the flow he goes against the tide. He should seriously consider the fact that Government is for the people as a whole and not for begrudgers and layabouts who he seems to attract.

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    Mute Joey_Westland
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    Aug 7th 2016, 3:29 PM

    ‘He should seriously consider the fact that Government is for the people as a whole’
    Fine Gael is a neo liberalist party with a privatization agenda which involves heaping debt on the backs of the working class and further enriching the financial elites of Europe.

    11
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    Mute O'Callaghan Stephen
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    Aug 7th 2016, 2:10 PM

    dont want FG LAB or FF but neither do we need these left wing headbangers that will alienate the middle class

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    Mute Alois Irlmaier
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    Aug 7th 2016, 5:52 PM

    The N is missing from that placard with cuts?

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