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LAST UPDATE | 31 Dec 2024
COUNTRIES AROUND THE world have begun ushering in 2025, with Australia marking the new year in spectacular style with a fireworks display on Sydney Harbour.
More than a million people were expected at the harbour for the traditional midnight display, where pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong and nine tonnes of fireworks sprayed from the city’s famed Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
Indigenous ceremonies and performances also took place to acknowledge the land’s first people.
An hour earlier, at 11am Irish time, Auckland became the first major city in the world to welcome 2025.
Thousands of revellers counted down to the new year and cheered colourful fireworks launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, the Sky Tower, as part of a spectacular light show.
Many also climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point, as well as a light display recognising Auckland’s Indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests over Māori rights in the nation of five million.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking a full 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York.
Other cities around the world have also started celebrating the New Year with celebrations highlighting local cultures and traditions after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability.
Much of Japan has shut down ahead of the nation’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning, including swatting floor mats called “tatami” with big sticks.
The upcoming Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of rebirth – alluding to the reptile’s shedding skin.
Stores in Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle from 1 January, have been selling tiny figures of smiling snakes and other snake-themed products. Other places in Asia will start marking the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.
Heavy snowfall in Japan also meant some passengers at Hokkaido’s main airport may see in 2025 in the departure lounge.
“It was great to see snow, but I didn’t think I would be trapped here,” one man told local broadcaster HTB as flights were scrapped.
“I might have to stay at the airport tonight.”
In South Korea, celebrations were cut back or cancelled as the country observes a period of national mourning following the crash on Sunday of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.
Elsewhere, Chinese state media covered an exchange of new year’s greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin in a reminder of growing closeness between two leaders who face tensions with the West.
Xi told Putin that their countries would “always move forward hand-in-hand”, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
China has maintained ties and robust trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to offset western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin.
Meanwhile, a blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early on Tuesday as the US territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
More than 1.2 million out of 1.47 million customers were without power, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution on the island.
It was not immediately clear what caused the widespread outage or when power would be restored.
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Let’s make sure that those not standing down don’t make it back into the Dail. FG have ensured 70% of young people ahed 25-29 are still living at home in their childhood bedrooms. FG have prioritised vulture fund profits over Irish people affording their own homes. FG economic policy has meant that our youth will be stuck in the rent trap, unable to afford to buy, unable to afford the pipe dream of starting a family, this is a demographic timebomb they have created. Vote anybody BUT FFG(two cheeks of the same arse) next election.
@Sean Murphy: @Sean Murphy: Exactly. And we need Seanad reform too so the whole public elects senators. Last thing you want is any of these ending up in the Seanad
@Sean Murphy: If SF form a government after the next election it will be interesting to see the economic effect on the country. Where will all the money required for free housing, free healthcare and of course increased dole for all the wasters in their ranks come from?
SF in the north are already showing up as a one trick pony. Irish unity will be the sound bite to drown out their failure to deliver on their populist policies.
@Vincent Alexander: The same place FFG have spun up money for their magic money tree building the most expensive hospital in the world, the black hole that is the HSE, the hundreds of millions spent on metrolink before a single track is laid – FFG is the one with the spending problem.
@Vincent Alexander: At the moment we have crumbling Health service, Homelessness, Housing crisis, Rental crisis, Scandal after scandal, A make it up as you go along refugee crisis. Billions still owed for the gangsterism of the banks and developers facilated by the same political parties. That is the legacy of FG/ FF since the foundation of this state.
@Vincent Alexander: Never mind all the extra Corp taxes, where has all the extra income taxes, VAT…. Etc that the current government are taking in gone? 2019 the income tax takes were 25.6B. it was 31b in 2022 and 32b in 2023. The government has never generated more revenue from the taxpayer but it all seems to be wasted with no major return. State services run into the ground, project over runs are a regular thing. Scandal after scandal. Health and housing issues…. Maybe SF might get a handle on it. The current lot haven’t and have had plenty of time to! That extra taxpayer money is lining someone’s pockets!
@Vincent Alexander: Ah Vincent, even through your blinkered vision you should be aware that the only ones that ever gave free healthcare, free houses and increased dole for “all the wasters” (your words, not mine) have been FF and FG.
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: Et alia above. As the saying goes records are there to be broken. Look North or South I have yet to see SF do anything thing that is constructive. Plenty of populist rhetoric and criticism. With a future that will have on the world stage Putin and possibly Trump and at home possibly McDonald it doesn’t look good.
@Sean Murphy: a lot of parents of these 25-29 year olds would be staunch ffg supporters, that is what makes me laugh, they be complaining about the state of the country and lo and behold come the next election, they be wetting themselves electing the same ffg gombeens
@Sean Murphy:
No wonder these politicians want a change of career having to listen to the absolute melts that they encounter all day every day.
@Vincent Alexander: no matter what party gets in, it will take a lot more than 1 term in govt to fix even a fraction of the mess ffg have made over the past century, most will expect things to be fixed within weeks, that will never happen so the party in govt will lose seats in next election unfortunately
@he didnt take the 120k because he already got it s: ……Ah,SF heads out with the excuses as to how they are going to fail….SF’s core vote is about 15%….they have gained 20% extra recently (swing voters)….if they don’t do well in the first term those swing voters will swing elsewhere.
@donal O’brien: us melts pay there big saleries and pensions.
@Laois Weather: Yeah we don’t want any Regina’s who were sacked by the public in the 2020 GE being rewarded with a seat in the Seanad after the forthcoming GE.
@James Moylan: @James Moylan: “a lot of parents of these 25-29 year olds would be staunch ffg supporters, …”
Were, dear boy!
Were.
@John Terry: legitimate question.. how long would any incoming Government need to sort this siht show ? I mean FG have been in power for well over a decade and the homeless numbers( even pre Ukraine war) continued to rise and rise.. how long does any party need to get a handle on that?
@Brian: One third of sitting FG TD’s now leaving, 11 from 33, I guess there is no other option now but to call a general election only question is is who pulls the plug.
@Frank Cauldhame: exactimundo .. FG,it’s leadership and TDs are eventually realising, and even more so off the back of the referendum,that a large portion of people in this country are fckn angry with them.. and understandably so.. this Government is in meltdown before our very eyes.. Election needs to be called now.
@Vincent Alexander: how do you know? The last 100 years of corruption haven’t been “interesting” as you say.
@Laois Weather: there was a referendum on scappping the seaned and the public voted against it so we have no one but ourselves to blame if they end up in the Seaned
@Brian: not really, all.the other parties – SF included – campaigned for a Yes/Yes. So they’re ALL out of touch.
@John Moylan: one party campaigned for a NO/NO.
@Sean Murphy: Exactly. But let’s not forget the enablers ( The FF, The dismantled Independent Alliance and the so – called the Green oarty). They are all in it together.
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: USC the temporary tax and its immoral to tax a mans home , 2 Fine Gael clangers by so called ,Cant wait to see what Simon Harrse comes out with
@Vincent Alexander: would be a drop in the ocean compared to money wasted by ffg. That’s where the real magic money tree is are the numbers are there to prove it
@Vincent Alexander: The Provos (they aren’t Sinn Féin – which they abandoned in 1986) are a zero trick pony. They are not Nationalist, but an entirely pro-British party.
@Sean Murphy: sobtell me your plan to make homes cheaper then
Also this Government with current economy policy has ensured that we have full employment, hundreds of thousands of well paid jobs, funds to ensure third level education is almost free, a huge social welfare budget , especially looking after our senior citizens . From what I read almost 50,000 homes will be built this year, one third of what the UK hope to build. Fair enough vote for SF or better still run in the next election seeing as you have all the answers
@Sean Murphy: not sure why FF or the Greens aren’t included, but I agree with the overall sentiment – except that there is no credible opposition. A coalition of SF and the other Loony lefts aren’t going to build houses and certainly not stop giving them to foreigners ahead of Irish.
@Vincent Alexander: Maybe it doesn’t look good in your mind but after years of being in power and seeing all the failures from FF/FG it’s about time that we give SF a chance. Maybe they have the solution that FF/FG lack.
@Vincent Alexander: SF in government will solve the housing crisis. The rush of capital and investment out of the state ahead of a a step up to power by the IRA’s little political wing will decimate the economy and send hundreds of thousands of our highest paid jobs to safer havens. The unemployment that results will give us a return to mass emigration, leaving plenty of houses for those that remain. Simple solution!
@Sean Murphy: spot on
@Richard Walsh: fool
@Vincent Alexander: you do know that the UK government hold the purse strings in the north???
@Peter Byrne: sinn Fein in government would collapse the economy, leading to a return to the mass emigration of the 1960s. So it would solve the housing crisis, in a way, by creating loads of empty houses that people will have left behind.
@Sean Murphy: the alternatives are great Sean, aren’t they? Far better, yeah? And the of course I assume we’ll see your own name on a ballot paper, to share your expertise with more than just Journal readers
@John Mulligan: have you got any real proof this is going to happen or is just your personal opinion spoken to sound like fact?
@Vincent Alexander: Is it just SF supports on social welfare or is everybody a waster who is on it.
As that means all pensioners and people with disabilities and those with long term illnesses are wasters if they require social welfare.
@Sean Murphy: Millions are spent on the Metrolink as it costs that to get all the work done. It takes time, planning and a horrific amount of work to get this far.
It does not help when An Bord Pleanala delay things by 28 months adding more costs!
@Jack Cass: FF actually FG believe in privatisation, small state involvement. Like the Tory’s in the UK!
@Larry O Reilly: Thats because the Seanad is a balance to a loaded Dail when pushing legislation.
It is in the constitution as to why it is there and it makes perfect sense.
@Sean Murphy: No Sean, it’s not a rent trap brought about by FFG, it’s a rent trap brought by the amount of young people looking for their independence from late teens. What’s wrong with 20 something year olds living with their parents? I’m in my early 50′s and stayed at home with my parents until I was 29. Owning a property and starting a family is (as most readers know) a massive drain on resources when they should be enjoying life and start saving for the cash hungry investment of starting a family. Unfortunately it’s all about pointing fingers and passing blame these days. People do need to take responsibility for their own decisions rather than blame government! May I ask what a realistic alternative to the current coalition might be btw?
@John Terry: well you’re obviously an expert. Tell us unwashed how any government (any) would go about fixing this complete mess your masters have left in one term.
Remember sf have no hand whatsoever in this embarrassment.
@Vincent Alexander: ‘increased dole for all the wasters in their ranks”
The complete snobbery from someone who thinks they are middle class looking down their nose at others is truly disgusting
@Sean Murphy: which of the three main parties do you prefer to lead Govt Sean? FF,SF or FG??
Go on bet you swerve the question. In fact I’m sure you will
@Sean Murphy: How can you post all this and when I try they tell me ” it might be regarded as toxic.”
@Vincent Alexander: at least they didn’t bankrupt the country ff greens added 169 billion to our national debt because they copied up to the banks giving them a free reign then lied about it
@Sean Murphy: two cheeks of the same arse That leaves you in between
@Sean Murphy: Two cheeks of the same arse. And that leaves you as the bit in the middle.
@Donal Desmond:
Shame that shin Fein voted with the government on that night to Bale out the bankers.
Only Labour voted against
@Sean Murphy: Is Bertie not in talks with Simon at the moment. Been enticed back into the fold again maybe?
@donal O’brien: surely you’re not making an excuse for these politicians, many caught up in their own scandals during their tenure. An 8 year old boy is suffering from scoliosis and needs an urgent operation.
Simon and Stephen promised the families that their kids would not be left for more than 4 months. 3 to 4 years ago.
Now tell me if that was your child, you would be spouting the same false faith in this government.
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec:
I am slightly amused to see the amount of ‘likes’ each anti-government post is getting, you would swear that they were going to be defeated in a landslide.
Even though the time is rife (17 FG TD’s quitting) to select an alternative Govt by offering cohesive Policies/Solutions now, none of the alternative replacements, apart from the SD’s could be bothered.
The main reason for the waste of money is that FFG are incapable of making decisions and instead of trying to fix the problems, they throw our money at the problem, with no plan and no accountability, to make it go away and it works. We deserve better! No Bike shed resignations. Agriculture and the HSE are the best examples. U.L. property scandals. Catholic Church still hasn’t paid up. Climate?? As for Mental Health services. A JOKE!.
SF’s latest ‘policy’ is to basically, subsidise childcare places by a E1,000 per kid, alienating most of the electorate, who WILL vote. Populism out of control. If people want affordable housing (under 350k) they have to move to where it is cheaper, even if that means moving 20km away from Mammy, all political parties have to stop pandering to populism and take decisive decisions.
The ‘anti-immigrant’ crowd are FFG’s best allies as they distract people from the real causes of the mess we live in.
Its hard to trust any party, so vote for the most genuine individual first before their party.. Ask them all the same question, e.g. how are they going to get the church to pay up, they wont be expecting that one.
@John Mulligan: would they collapse it the same way FF did? What party was in power during the 80′s when there was thousands leaving the country due to the state of the place.
@Vincent Alexander: ha ha ff/fg 2 billion hospital 336500 bike shed yea let’s see what happens to the funds
@Richard Walsh: nonsense
@DC: He already has remember all those other covids , 18 I think he said there were.
@Vincent Alexander: all Sinn Fein need to do is borrow. After all FFG have now increased our debt to €230bn without a blink of an eye in our media. Why shouldn’t we bring that to €340bn? After all at least this spending would actually benefit people.
@Richard Walsh: What a load of bull you talk. Pro British, I am having a great laugh here.
Joe and Mary Voter needs to remember that a vote for your local Fine Gael or Fine Fail politician is a vote for Eamon Ryan and his radical Green aganda.
@Irish Axe: In all honesty the greens are for the most part impartial and are likely to make up part of whatever the next government is; they’re a single issue party, so if SF/socdems get just under quota for the next government greens are highly likely to make up the numbers with them.
@Irish Axe: Rubbish, how many TD’s have the Greens got, 12 ? They’re just there to make up the numbers and have had a very limited affect on policy during this disastrous government coalition with FF & FG.
@Mr Inbetween: the next government will be The Republican Coalition of SFFF.
@Sean Murphy: Jeez, I hope not.
@Sean Murphy: the Green Party impartial? Nope, they’re pure greed for power and happy to walk on the electorate to get it.
@Liam23: Sinn Fein will be no different & their Flip Flops lately have been crazy. Their stance on Immigration is totally at odds with the majority of the Irish people & their own voter base. They backed the Govt Referendum & then MaryLou said she would re run it until she got slapped back by the real bosses. As for Fianna Fail, seeing Micheal Martin, Stephen Donnelly, Darragh O Brien, Mc Grath, Cowan, Collins, Chambers, Dooley, Troy etc all back in will be enough to make people take to the streets. No alternative in Dail Eirinn now, we need to take to the streets.
@SV3tN8M4: “enough to make people take to the streets” LOL. FFG were re-elected at the LE. Your circle of malcontents are not the majority.
@Mr Inbetween: Sorry there, you must be asleep for 4 years,— the greens on 4% are actually running the show . FF & FG have to agree to every proposal from them or they will pull the plug, and that would be disastrous for Micheal who just loves the power .
@Mr Inbetween: ah look around the last year, cycle lanes everywhere. Thats the greens getting their bite if the cherry in the final 12 months of this parliamentary cycle. 2 for FG 2 For FF 1 for Greens.
@Mr Inbetween: the Greens very limited effect ? U should wise up
@Mr Inbetween: Incorrect, they had the ability to fold the government at any time. So they got what they wanted no matter what.
@Mr Inbetween: The greens have increased carbon and bin charges. They have also introduced indirect taxes like the container return scheme, which some retails took advantage of to raise their prices. They have not criticised the big polluters like China, Germany , US , etc, for increased coal mining.
@Irish Axe: Be lucky if the Greens Get One Seat
@Mr Inbetween: they make up the numbers, yes, and then hold that slim majority they help create over the heads of the larger parties in the coalition to get what they want….and before you try accusing me of being a conspiracy theorist…..it’s no conspiracy….just the plain old every day wheeling and dealing and back stabbing of politics.
@Mr Inbetween: By the way, if you believe otherwise, Sorry, but you are really showing how naive you are when it comes to politics.
@Pat Barry: You are a bit naive yourself. Some of the green policies enacted would have had to be done under any government. It is convenient for the larger parties to have the Greens to blame. There is no way 12 seats are driving government policy
@Irish Axe: éamonn Ryan is not running for re-election. And don’t be under the illusion that SF would somehow refuse green part support if they needed it.
@Mick Duvanny: And here we have another showing how naive they are. Those 12 Green Party seats are getting the Greens everything they want, and yes, they are driving government policy, whether you care to admit it or not. The DRS is a prime example, especially when we have perfectly good recycling collection services. The other 2 were so scared of SF that they gave the Greens what they wanted rather than risk them pulling out and forcing an election. I’ve also noticed, though, that as an election is on the horizon, that power is waning. You can see it in the other 2 parties, the criticism of Greenn policies appearing, because the Green yoke is coming off!
@John Moylan: that’s actually not true. They’re pushing unpopular policies because they believe it’s the right thing and what they were elected to do. If it was about power, they’d do what every other party seems to do, buy votes or flip flop like SF continually do. The Greens are a rare breed in this country, commitment politicians who believe in their policies and stick to them no matter what. Vote for them or don’t vote for them, but to say they are just hungry for power is clearly not the case. Either way, all parties now have a green agenda which the actual Green party would consider a success.
@Dermot Blaine: And that’s fair enough, sticking to their guns on the policies they were elected on, but currently, the majority of the people in this country are struggling to make ends meet and the Greens are entirely ignorant to that fact as they implyment charge after charge for enviromental reasons. Even the DRS is an extra toll on people. I know we get the money back when we bring the items back, but when you are budgeting for your week’s shopping, you account for what you are returning, and what and still need to budget for the deposits on what you are buying.
@Sean Murphy: if sf go with GP ff fg I will never vote again
@Sean Murphy: Which is why the shouldn’t be ruinning the Transport department. clueless.
The real reasons are they know deep down they haven’t a hope in hell of getting re-elected. There’s going to be carnage in the next GE.
@Laois Weather: And then when Sf get in and they try run the country with their free voting system it will be equally carnage(because they will get no legislation through)Mary Lou will then try change things to a party whip system and the backbench’s won’t like that when they are asked to pass legislation that they don’t like……They will drop like flies from the backbench’s.
@John Terry: And you know this how???
@Jack Cass: Sf have never been in government and they have had a lifetime of telling their constituents what they want to hear,the minute they are told that all those promises that they promised will have to be scaled down it will turn to carnage….SF will NOT get in on their own so they will have to compromise with other parties that have made grand promises as well……I can only imagine how long they take to decide a program for government with the other parties…..and all of that for 38k euro?… violet anne wynne was the first off their sinking ship over that and won’t be the last.
@Laois Weather: Three quarters of government ministers are from Dublin. Dublin has 28% of the population, it’s no wonder rural TDs are dropping out ,they got screwed by this crowd who haven’t got a clue how the majority of people outside their own little patch live
@John Terry: I really wish you guys would make up your minds.
One minute SF is run by the Army Council.
The next, they have a free vote.
Can you stick to one non-contradictory propaganda line, please?
You lot would remind me of the russians.
Or US Republicans.
How fickle we are.
@John Terry: SF has always had a whip system.
@Laois Weather: Micheal Ring is 70? Can he not retire in peace?
@John Terry: so one sf steps down, and you call it a sinking ship. yet half the fg party step down, many without good reason, and that not worthy of conversation. Also sinn fein have been in power up north, was it not Simon shaking hands and smiling with them in Dublin castle last week. Typical fg not on my door, but ok up there.
@Max: didn’t recognise many of these rural td, can’t have been doing much good in their positions, politics should be national, not this wink and a sneaky deal behind the cow shed, cause my dad went to school with your great great granny, as sure she was a lovely woman.
Rats deserting a sinking ship.
@KTH: and getting their massive pensions and perks while their at it
@Geoff Bateman: well why dont you run in the next General Election and see how well paid it is. 100K is hardly a decent salary when you have to be available 24/7
@Peter Byrne: I am glad you mentioned the 24/7 thing. I am also sure a lot of family carers are not receiving a similar salary.
@Peter Byrne: 112k plus a minimum of 34k untouched expenses for TDs outside Dublin, so a Drogheda, navan, naas (commuter based, you get the idea) td has a salary equivalent of 160k plus, before they appoint their wife, child, girlfriend as their parliamentary assistant, so yes it is massively well paid
@Peter Byrne: 112k plus a minimum of 34k unvouched expenses for TDs outside Dublin, so a Drogheda, navan, naas (commuter based, you get the idea) td has a salary equivalent of 160k plus, before they appoint their wife, child, girlfriend as their parliamentary assistant, so yes it is massively well paid
@KTH: rum yourself so clever clogs
Job done. Just took two terms to put the average citizen back to 1950,s standard of living. Im sure they are proud of themselves.
@bruce banner: Maybe your standard of living is back to the 1950’s….It’s certainly not the average persons.During covid irish people put more money into savings than any other eurozone country per capita……That certainly dispels your theory.
@John Terry: Take a day off, your pontifications are getting boring now.
@Jack Cass: Typical in here.People hate facts that counter rubbish general nonsense comments.
@bruce banner: Another baseless statement. In the fifties some children were still going to school barefoot. Old people were consigned to county homes – in other words to the former workhouses. Vote SF and you might end up there.
@John Terry: may take the savings out now John,won’t last long with average rents skyrocketing and cost of living to boost sure twil be grand just sit and watch the pot overflow. The point of it all is they’ve had forever to deal with it and are practically handing the likes of sinn fein votes with they’re carelessness.
@Jack Cass: Maybe U don’t like the truth
@John Terry: When you break that figure down, the largest percentage of that figure is held by a tiny minority of people. Look up how wealth/ assets/money is distributed in this country, the wealth is held & dominated by a small percentage of people. The majority of working Irish taxpayers are living month to month.
@John Terry: they did but those savings are gone now to pay for huge increases in fuel, electricity and gas. Everything, including food has risen in price because the transport costs have risen with the cost of fuel. My last electricity bill was over €1200 because I have to keep the house warm for my disabled daughter, as it stands we only heat 3 rooms, her bedroom, the bathroom and the living room. We’re on state pensions so where are we to find that kind of money? We both worked our whole lives but are barely able to keep up with the cost of living. One FFG junket would pay my fuel bill for several years. One less “consultant or advisor” could fund 4-6 nurses.
@John Terry: Covid was 3 to 5 years ago, and there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Anything I and many others like me managed to put into savings then is long gone, along with anything we saved before the pandemic, due to the increasing prices due to the largly ignored cost of living crisis since.
@John Terry: you are a bot aren’t you
Isn’t it fascinating how all the years of brawling, hatred and political assassination between FF and FG have all been for nothing?. I wonder will they be able to find a single flaw in one another in the run up to the election next year? What a sham! The media would want to take note and make sure they’re taken to task about what exactly each party now stands for.
@Louis Jacob: the 46% who voted for FFG must love each other as they had an extraordinarily high transfer rate from one to the other in the election last month. The fact is they are comfortably on course for reelection. The 18% that SF got in the poll last Sunday is a straw in the wind. All of us who would like to see an alternative have to work out why the Shinners and the Trots are not appealing to people.
@Ciaran O’Mara: So as happen in France, the people used PR to keep partiers out.
Look at the UK, same thing, even with a first past the post system that they use there.
@Louis Jacob: I’m glad you brought that up Louis. Our so called media have been completely silent about this. Imagine 2 parties who have hated each other for the last 100 years now best of buddies. They did this because of the amount of people who were supporting Sinn Fein. I reckon it won’t be long before they turn on each other again.
@Ciaran O’Mara: You couldn’t pay me to vote SF. Couldn’t imagine anything worse than Mary Lou and her ilk in power.
LEO NEEDS TO BE GONE ALONG WITH GORMAN BEFORE NEXT ELECTION.
@M G: Still, cant be accused of cronyism I suppose, there is a certain charm to out with the old and in with the new, certainly they’re young, which is important (imo). I don’t believe any government will build infrastructure (more of a people problem), which is what we need to keep us, so for me it’s really irrelevant who’s in, barr how it effects my pocket, as it stands most Irish people (the middle class) will prefer an FG government.
The more that don’t stand in the next election the better, let’s hope that Leo fuc! Off as well, won’t miss Leo the leak.
All FG are internet in are big business and ranchers farmers, that their background from the formation of the Fine Gael political party.
@Jimmy Kiely: What are the SF candidates? Ex IRA and apologists for terrorism. You can easily sweep the faith of the disappeared under the carpet.
@Vincent Alexander: You mean those that stood against the terrorism of the Brits?
Someone had to do it.
If it wasn’t the IRA, it would have been someone else.
@Vincent Alexander: forgive me for asking, but where did I mention Séin Féin. Don’t presume you know my voting preference or my political preferences.
@Jimmy Kiely: Fair play, your comment panned out brilliantly :)
@Jimmy Kiely: Great chance so for the keyboard warriors here to get elected with all their knowledge. Or perhaps they will stay put and keep complaining.
Fine Gael will be destroyed at the next election, current polls are kind to them, but they will be massacred next time out, ironically by their voter base who they abandoned & failed abysmally. Many of those retiring let Leo & his woke buddies dictate FG direction & sat back & did nothing to challenge him.
Fine Gael abandoned the working Irish taxpayers & forgot the bread & butter issues affecting ordinary taxpayers, instead they followed the woke politics & courted the EU, UN, woke NGO’s, they will now pay the price. Varadkar will not get reelected & won’t hang around either considering the mess he has left behind, will end up lecturing on woke issues for the EU or UN & will bring them down as well. Fine Gael failed the people.
Oh how this comment has aged! FG and FF were in no way “massacred” or “destroyed” at the LE. They were re-elected and continue to have support.
@9QRixo8H: Let’s wait & see at the next General Election. TD’s don’t get elected in local elections & they have no bearing on a general election. Great to see the Greens massacred in the European election.
As they know they they won’t have a hope of Returning as a TD. Retire and save the Embarrassing time knowing that Irish voter’s have copped on and don’t want them .SAD THING IS THE BIG PENSION THEY GET
@Christopher Fealy: It will be interesting to see how many Sf party members will still be in their ranks after a 5 year term in government?…..When they are told that they have to vote the party way instead of a free vote like they have in opposition……also how many of them are going to put up with being in government on…..what is it,38k wage that they try and tell us they are all on.
@John Terry: there speaks a public sector employee
Those TDs with a bit of cop-on know which way the wind is blowing and are jumping before being pushed, the rest are a dead government walking!
@Brian Hunt: Another perfect prediction ! Well done Brian.
Well RID keep them coming
All the rats are abandoning the sinking ship good riddance
Rats fleeing a sinking ship, hopefully they will be alright with they’re hefty lump sums and pensions for little or no work in reality. Ordinary Joe soap couldn’t even dream of what they’ll walk away with off the backs of the working people as usual. Tds salary’s should be capped well below what they are and expenses should only be accepted with valid receipts or reasons. It’s like a gravy train in there and making a balls of running most sectors including health and housing.
@Paddy C: not rats, dedicated public representatives and patriots.
@donal O’brien: I wonder will they be called rats and will they be as strong against them getting a pension when the likes of Sf get in and fail miserably…..I bet not,it wil be ‘They were never going to be able to fix it because the other lot had 100 years and blah blah blah’
@John Terry: I hear you there on that,but unfortunately they’ve made such a balls of it and had so long to at least attempt to deal with the housing crisis. The hospitals and health are only going to be solved one way more money,if the population is increasing with immigration coupled with the fact they prob have medical cards etc the strain on services already strained will increase. I not a big fan of sinn fein either but fact remains they have had so long long now and failed. It’s such a shame especially to see next generation having to emigrate for a future it’s a disgrace.
@donal O’brien: dedicated to what?we have serious housing problems which could have been avoided or at the very least dealt with. Instead it’s been allowed to worsen at an accelerated rate,it’s not a country club in there they’re supposed to be looking at long term solutions. Not waffling year in year out about the problem worsening at the same time. People are terrified of what lies ahead,any person renting privately coming to pension age is in serious trouble will be unable to pay rising rents and will end up homeless it’s inevitable. And all the waffle won’t solve it,control over immigration, population balance for services to meet the numbers is required basic common sense which should have applied YEARS ago SEEING the problem clearly coming straight at them.
Was in a rural town on the west coast last week & a local TD had an advert in window that he held a clinic in a pub every Saturday night @ 10pm
Who in the name of God would actually want to be a politician. 70 of our legislation comes by diktat from Brussels, the Daily is not much more than a talking shop & you are expected to sort out Granny Kelly’s medical card
The bigger question is how do we make our Republic more democratic & given people some say over their lives
@Gerry Kelly: Shur’ isn’t that just a way to get a few pints, to make it look like they’re one of the lads (or lassies)?
@Gerry Kelly: Please learn about how the EU works. there is no diktat at all. It is a system that works.
Sinking ship and rats spring to mind
@David Clarke: only to people with weak minds
@donal O’brien: I wonder are the weak minds the ones headed for tents unable to pay rent unable to find accommodation working or not regardless. There’s no denying the countries economy is doing well but there’s also no denying basic things like housing and health are unaffordable serious issues worsened over long period of time people are sick of it can’t keep telling those homeless or headed for it the wonders fg and ff have done last 100 years not much use to them or the thousands who will be in same boat as time goes on guaranteed.
All jumping ship know what is coming . Awlful state have country in . So sad seeing why is. Don’t worry you still be financially alright leo .
@martin finnegan: thats the main thing,sod the rest on low incomes with rising costs
All of the above FG taxpayer made millionaires voted against the Dail ceasefire vote shameful
Would these self entitled wasters not have stood down years ago?.At least younger, more articulate candidates with fresh ideas ,who actually know and care about people, could have been elected.Good riddance to the lot of them.
@Gerry Lamont: so you are putting your name up in the next election as you have all the answers so
@Gerry Lamont: Surely it’s the relatively young politicans that are making all problems worse by imposing ideology over common sense, ie Varadkar, Mc Entee, Simon Harris, Donnelly, O’ Gorman, et al.
While I have never voted for Fine Gael, the comments calling these politicians rats deserting a sinking ship are nothing shirt of disgusting .
No wonder this people would have enough of this ill informed abuse. They went into public representation for the noblest of reasons and have done their best.
Despite what many of the muppets that post here think, under most objective metrics Ireland is one of the most successful countries on earth. We have some issues here no doubt but these are by no means uniquely Irish problems.
One particular poster bemoans the failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over one hundred years. This lad would do well to study the Ireland of 1924, or even the Ireland of the 1980s to fully appreciate the economic and social progress of our great nation.
@donal O’brien: Well said,the opposition must be quaking in their boots when they read comments in here and various other media sources as to what people expect and demand from a government…..as you said we have big issues here but the level of expectation from the baying mob is off the scale……and as I’ve said many times,the people in this country who whinge and moan the most contribute the least and demand the most.
@donal O’brien: open your eyes, l live through the eighth and reared a family.
There is no trying to hide the fact that the established political parties have left the citizens of our country €265 billion in debt.
For one of the wealth’s countries on earth, why then have we almost 14,000 homeless, hospitals busting at seams, and our young people can find or afford a home to live in.
Rats leaving the ship is fitting.
@donal O’brien: Our great nation! Our population is pretty much the same as the 1926 census around 4.1 million ethnic Irish. Pretty much the same as the most recent census.
The simple fact is that this country’s ethnic population has not grown in 100 years is a sure sign of a failed state.
@donal O’brien: Were you living in a different dimension most of your life? Totally delusional.
Judging by the dates on the comments, The Journal are deep in Green recycling policy/
And this, from the 1st line of the article:
“ELEVEN FINE GAEL TDs have now announced that they will not be contesting the next general election, a quarter of the 33 Fine Gael TDs who were elected in 2020.”
Who worked out those percentages: Fine Gael’s Finance Department?
FH implosion, and for a very good reason. The pension bill is about to soar though.
@Mike 100: very important point,with rising immigration at older numbers more will be looking for pensions year on year out as it goes on while as they’ve said birth rates have dropped. And of course will decline further with cost of living and average couple hasn’t a hope of buying a place suppose though that’s nonsense in the long term. We can rest assured that was all well thought out by FF and fg basic logic and forward planning done a great job of that so far
11 is one quarter of 33?
Very wise decisions here comes Mary lou
@Kevin O Brien: yep, you think things are bad now, just wait til Moany Lou takes over, with a problem for every solution .
@Ian McDonald: Yeah maybe they’ll crash the economy and bail out the banks for the first time ever in our history.
@Louis Jacob: they’ll certainly do the first part if that, you’re right!
@Ian McDonald: Well, they will certainly have the record of FF and FG to look up to crash the economy if that’s what they want to do.
FF have crashed the economy 3 times in my voting lifetime. And FG have deepened and prolonged those recessions with their ‘fixes’ when they got in.
@Ian McDonald: Like I asked John Terry above, you know this how?
@Jack Cass: And how are you and everyone else so confident that they won’t?….They are all things to all people in opposition…. That won’t work in government……and the rate that they are calling for everything to come out of central government is hilarious……and you think the likes of Louise o Reilly and David (up the ra) cullinane and the rest are the right choice for ministers?
@Ian McDonald: why, will Séin Féin change all the top civil servants that have been around for donkey year’s.
Over a hundred years of the established main political parties that have left our country in dept to the tune of €265 billion. Health service busting at the seams, most of our young people can’t afford a place live, even if they could fine a place.
Homeless figure are like something out of a third world country, nurses driven to despair because of their work load.
So I for one don’t believe that old tripe that Séin Féin and possibly some other small political party will do worse than the three stogie government have done.
@Ian McDonald: well Ian. All the others have tried and failed. She is at least entitled to her turn. And pur her money where her mouth is.
@John Terry:
@John Flanagan: Even if the Shinners completely fail to deliver, a century long bi- hegemony will be broken. The people who have been fleecing us all that time are going to have to come up with more than mere whataboutery to get it back.
@Louis Jacob: AIB was bailed out in the 1980s by the taxpayer due to their failed American misadventure.
I wonder how many of the anti FFFG commentators here watched the Tonight Show Yesterday. Marylou was brutal. She doesn’t want to go into coalition with FF or FG. Funny enough they don’t want to go in with sf either. If she was to go into a partnership with one of them there would be no rotating leader!! Things would be done the sf way!!
I hope she keeps that attitude up because with her 30-35% (on a really good day out) she hasn’t a hope of leaving the opposition benches…Let’s face it, sf are happier as a party of opposition
@chris gaffney: That’s not the way our electoral system works.
And the polling systems don’t show the likely outcome either.
Why?
Polling shows – say – PBP on 2%. If that were their true support they would never get a seat. Yet they do. Several.
Because polling is national, the support for smaller parties that might have little or no support in some constituencies does not reflect what they might get in others.
Secondly, the polling only reflects 1st preference votes. Most of our TDs are elected after the 2nd count. 1st preference voting intentions cannot show how transfers might work out, and which candidates might benefit most.
As a FF candidate is eliminated, will their transfer go mostly to FG? A few years ago that would seem unlikely. Would they be more likely to go to SF?
And lastly, all this plays out at a constituency level. Transfer patterns in – say – Cavan would be unlikely to be the same as in Dunlaoghaire Rathdown.
I really wish polling companies would at least ask who the 2nd preference would be. And would do polling in several constituencies that might be more representative of the nation as a whole, with the results for each broken out.
That would give us a much better picture, I think.
But the parties do their own internal polling to try to capture these things.
And it seems likely that FG might just have realised that they wont get away with putting vampire funds ahead of our children.
Not any more.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: So a majority of seats for sf……sorry I don’t see that at all.
@chris gaffney: But maybe many more than their 1st preference national polling would suggest.
And maybe the SDs might well enough that two could form a government?
The Greens could well lose a lot.
FF and FG would be expected to lose a lot.
Someone will gain from those lost seats.
Who will it be?
How the mighty have fallen
Just like those in RTE, exited with mega pensions, lump sums & exit packages, leaving the mess they created behind, with ordinary Taxpayers paying the price. They have destroyed all trust in politics & Irish institutions & left our young working people paying extortionate rents knowing they will never own their own home. Fine Gael forgot their voter base & the bread & butter issues & became more Woke than PBP, led by the ultra woke Harris & Mc Entee, Leo having done a runner. They have flooded the country with people, ensuring a housing crisis for the next decades & services at the point of collapse, history will show that they brought Ireland to the precipice just like their Coalition partners FF & Greens did when in power previously.
It’s starting to look like a case of:
One out all out, union rules.
Keep em coming
Out with the lot em.
Torie loving tan loveing FG.
They were never any good.
@Stella Charlie: be careful what u wish for
We never had a government in the first place and never will again, the EU run this country ,all leo mehole and cabbage head have done was to sign away our sovereignty .Nodding puppets is all they are ,they have destroyed our country.
@Paddy Connolly: So your answer for some party to govern this state is who ???
@Blue Moon: Those that run the country are TDs elected by the people of Ireland, one of my elected TDs who won the last seat after the eight count in my constituency is now a EU Commissioner that does not reside in Ireland but in Belgium, how then is he representing the people of his constituency that voted for him?
Off to gold-plated pension land—–and not a one will be missed
There jumping off the ship Like flies
I’m not a FG supporter, but I find it disgusting to read the vile comments here…. Lots of people retire from their jobs and lots of people leave their jobs for lots of reasons, better opportunities or just a different lifestyle. We are all here for a short time on this earth…. Try to make the most of it. Bitterness and anger definitely shortens your life…. So make the most of your time here…. Being happy and healthy….. Share the love….
@Blue Moon: If you’re that disgusted, stop reading the comments. Moreover, stop making them. Read Barney the Dinosaur instead. You’ll be much happier.
The game is up and day known it around two long
@Alan Moloney: 11 word sentance, and my head hurts reading it
@6gRrQtLn: you are obviosly very well educated, with your perfect grammar. We weren’t all blessed with the same education. And others might have learning difficulties. PS. You spelled sentence wrong whilst trying to mock others.
…and he said it wasn’t the writing on the wall.
Why are all these comments posted on Feb 13th, very bad journalism.
@Áine G: That’s when the article was first published. It has been updated today.
They are to cowardly to face the people running away like rats they will never see a poor day after lining their pockets with taxpayers money for years on end
Voting machines
The big printer that wasn’t measured correctly and held in storage
Whwn they warned about a pension timebomb , I didn’t think it would be driven by this.
How many ex Taoiseach, ex ministers and ex TDs will we be funding. Would be interesting if a Journalist could inform the public in something like this.
I want to reward people who get up early and go to work -Leo Varadkar.
Did all nurses get their 1000€ Covid pay ?
Just symptomatic of this party right to t he core
Has anybody actually asked “Why”? Men and women in very lucrative jobs and positions handing them back, I would like to see the cumulative total of all their perks and pensions that they won’t be handing back even though the health, policing and housing are worse now than when even the longest serving of them were first elected, something smells.
Yet everyone keeps either not bothering to vote or voting same buckers in. Country is mess so expensive and so hard to make living in sold of all our resource s and privatized everything. Need vote sinn fein in see what can do . Look i know there s a history but ff and fg are not perfect. Recession coming soon
I thought this article looked familiar, and then I noticed that the comments date back to February.
Why would the Journal be so lazy as to regurgitate the same old story, how much more effort would it have taken to upload a new article, albeit with a bit of copying and pasting.
And in relation to the retirements, what do they know that they are not telling us.
Most of them know that they will not retain their seats. So jump before it sinks. Can’t say any will be missed
In all fairness we are supposed to be kinda intelligent ,so let’s vote a left of center government in the next general election
@Robert Halvey: God Help us all
Do not vote for any politicians no matter the party if they are in favour of housing the world and not our own ,this government are distroying communities right across Ireland and devaluing the prices of people’s homes, building centers for illegal economic migrants they are costing jobs in the hospitality sector and putting our children in danger allowing illegals into Ireland look what happened in England we had something similar not as bad do these politicians actually care about the people of Ireland they will be punished in the Elections all of them .
When i try to post the truth , you always tell me ” it may be perceived as toxic.”
@Elizabeth Doyle: they don’t want to hear the truth.
@Elizabeth Doyle: Change your vocabulary.
How can people be commenting in February on an article that was only posted today??
Goodbye Mr Bruton.
Can’t wait for the next election.with so many on here that know how to fix every issue, this is going to be the greatest country in the world in the next few years!!
Rats…… sinking ship……
@Mr Inbetween: They wield a lot of power for their size. There are only twelve of them but in return for supporting the Government, they can make demands way above what they would be entitled to make. The power-hungry party leaders in FF/FG would do whatever it takes including bargaining with the Greens
Like rats from a sinking ship and the FF exodus haven’t started yet.Enjoying their fat pensions while some of us octogenarians have none and they won’t give us free TV with a sworn statement and copies of bank account and residency. HAS IT EVER BEEN OTHERWISE.!!!!!
@Elizabeth Doyle: what sinking ship, though? Everyone just trots out that cliche, but they are top of the opinion polls, hardly a sinking ship?
Some of these politicians are either well into retirement age or citing health issues, not sure what the big deal is? People rarely stay in the same job all their life, why should politics be any different? I wouldn’t be the biggest fan of FG but I wish them well. It’s a tough job especially with the abuse they receive daily both online and in-person.
Some of the comments here are disgraceful and we wonder why bullying is rife in our schools when this is how grown adults talk about others. Do better people.
@Caroline D: Many people with health issues have to go to work every day, while on waiting lists for years, with no services in place, another stated he worked 24/7 and wanted to see his kids, the thousands,of carers who actually work 24/7 265 days a week, would love time off to spend with their other family members and children, and not be so isolated from society.
But they don’t have the luxury
Because of the policies of FgFf.
They save you the tax payers in excess of 20 billion.
What have these politicians actually done for a better society, OTHER, than line their own pockets.
@Colette Byrne: 365 days a year
I’m sure there will be plenty of more parasites willing to take their places and get their snouts on the gravy train
@James Moylan: why don’t you run for election then. You could do it for free
That’s what we need, plenty of room for the next generation to be elected.
Why only list the FG members in the current Government? There are 2 other parties making up the coalition, each with members of their own after making the same announcement. Why not list them all in an article so we can really see how dysfunctional the coalition has become?
Will the last person leaving, please turn off the lights.
Hopefully, FFFG will now rebrand and form a steady centre party to counter the extremes of right and left that could not manage a barbique, never mind a modern economy.
If they do not, it will unsettle the FI flow, inhibit domestic capacity to tackle housing, health, education, and a zero environmental economy.
We do not need coalition gov’t dependant on spooky minority elements with untested policies, or any track record of sound ability.
@William Kelly: fg ff bankrupt the country in 2008
Never heard of any of them
Does nobody here care that Joe Carey has had serious cardiac problems for the last year?
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill:
True.
He regrets he has to stand down
The rats are running to the hills with their big pension after destroying the country
They will all be stood down after the election if the people finally cop on
Good for them.
The Irish let them all off the hook
We deserve everything we get.
These politicians are laughing all the way to their pensions
Their leaving because they know what is coming for them in the gen election..or they know how bad the county is … my guess is the know the county is f**ked and they don’t want to get there hands dirty…
The Rats are running after destroying the country leaving the mess
8 months old .
Come on.
HOW CAN COMMENTS BE CLOSED IN 17 MINUTES OR ARE THE CLOSED ” AB INITIO” !!!!!
Not investigated by SIPO !!
what a stroke .
good riddance .
Sometimes, the devil you know.. Just saying.
After SF eventually serve a term or two in office who are all the anti establishment brigade going to vote for? Once SF get in power reality will hit and they will adopt the same positions as FFG on many issues. Fantasy economics and fantasy politics is fine when you are in opposition. But I do reckon it’s time for SF to have a go. I look forward to the chaos.
When all these elder lemons first became T.Ds it was a different world for sure .They were representing mainly Irish people ,no internet spewing hatred at them of course , no hard questions such as ‘ what is a woman’ Now their reasons for going ,with the exception of those with health issues are as fake as themselves .They all stood idly by while our little country was being over run by outsiders .
There seems to be a double standard being deployed currently by the media in relation to the departure of politicians from parties in the houses of the oireachtas.
Sinn Fein are being rightly held to account over their handling of the case of former press secretary that admitted a series of offences involving children and received a reference from two colleagues, who themselves later resigned for doing so.
The resignation of a Sinn Fein senator for allegedly sending inappropriate texts to a minor is also news worthy, according to the new report this allegation was referred to the PSNI.
Then another as yet unrevealed allegation against another TD has been referred to the Garda by Sinn Fein and discussed in both the Dail and the media, including by the subject of the allegations.
The departure of another Sinn Fein, turned independent TD, is being cited in addition to all this, as the collapse of the party being somehow endorsed by its own members.
Yet in parallel many more TD’s from the governments parties are either not contesting the next election, or are instead standing as independents, and yet this is not being cited in the media as the collapse of the government parties or an indication of a lack of faith by their own longterm frontline members?
To the contrary, it is being depicted as a natural evolution of the parties, with the old guard stepping away, to make way for a new vibrant and as yet unnamed new crop of candidates…
In addition to all this, Sinn Fein is being vilified on social media, which is in turn being reported in the mainstream media, for it’s positions on the various actions of the current government, on housing, immigration, the failed referenda, while in opposition.
While the sitting government parties are simultaneously getting a free pass on all the very same issues and their failures on those issues, over which they had full control, while continuously holding the reins of power.
Which is curious to say the least…
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