Fine Gael are friends to everyone except their own people.

Yes, John. That’s why Fine Gael people up and down the country give up their free nights throughout the year, canvassing, going to meetings, lobbying their TD’s and contributing to the political process. They clearly don’t give a toss about the country or its people. They would be so much better off typing away rhetoric on a keyboard like you, wouldn’t they? A true patriot.

they do it because they like doing it, the way you go on anyone would think they were donating limbs to the orphans

Crap, peasant. Twice the people keyboard warriors like you are.

They are just working out how to rob us blind, now it’s their turn to get their snouts in the trough. FF could make exactly the same claims as you did.

Free nights? Nothing is free with Fine Gael or any of the suits that get elected. Oxygen is next on the list for taxing. You make the fine gaelers out to be making major sacrifices for being in office. They broke every pre-election promise to just get in then continuously screw the working class. You are obviously benefitting from their time in charge. If not then open your eyes you dope. Ps. I’m no keyboard warrior, I serve my country every day, I just don’t like to see it ran into the ground by snakes. If Fine Gael were as ruthless in dealing with Angela merkel as dealing with their own people, we’d be in a lot better position

keyboard warrior says yer man that posts sickening propaganda on every post he can

No, John- you’re just another pathetic whinger, content to belt out mindless populist rhetoric rather than contribute to the process. Anyone is entitled to disagree with any party’s policies. You’re not happy FG are making hard choices to fix the country? You yearn for FF vote buying policies? Haven’t got the stomach for the tough times? That’s your prerogative… but you ascribe a motive FG supporters, you suggest a disloyalty to the Irish people. All from the comfort of your couch. And that tells me all I need to know about you.

@peasant- unlike you, I’ve pounded pavements and done my bit. One of the many, many differences between you and I.

lol you know me so well kevin, what else did i not do then? you stupidly assume that no one on here ever had any involvement in politics, the more assumptions you make, the stupider you come across

Pounding pavements does what for whom exactly?

All you need to know about me? You joke of a man. If you did half as much for the people of this country as i do then I’d treat your silly comments seriously. Go out and have a pint and put some money into the economy instead of raping it. I don’t yearn for any political party, they’re all as corrupt as each other.

@john- Fantastic delusions of grandeur, there. I’ll keep an eye out on the proclamation of independence for your signature. No doubt they have a space set aside for you at Glasnevin. “Half as much for the people of Ireland as I do”, Jesus…give me a break.

“hard choices” how I’m sick of hearing about all the “hard choices” as if that makes it all ok. FG hasn’t made any hard choices. Enda is not living in sackcloth and ashes.

@john- when I hear “they’re all as corrupt as each other” that’s all I need to hear. It’s all white noise after that. If your analysis can’t distinguish between the political parties, you’re the joke of a man. You should be wearing a big red nose, oversized shoes and a plastic flower on your lapel that squirts water at people.

he thinks canvassing for fg is ‘doing good’ for the country, many people would think its the complete opposite, they are so up their own arses these fg die hards, they like nothing better than a feeble attempt at patronization, its quite funny really when we get one that is a few clowns short of a circus.

Blah blah kev, silly man with with silly comments. Pounding the pavement to people’s houses telling them lies to their faces. You should be ashamed of yourself. You don’t deserve to call yourself a man let alone an Irish man. I wish you came to my door, I’d send you packing fairly lively

no one could act in such a condescending way and hope to drum up support for a party, he has to be a shinner pretending to be a blueshirt to make us think all fg supporters are complete tossers, dont worry mr.shaw, we already knew that a fair few of them are

@john- you’d have to get off your arse and walk away from your PC to answer the door which I think is unlikely.

Peasant- I’m not trying to drum up support for any party. I just can’t abide listening to crap.

ah kev, you’re about as sharp as a bowling ball, and twice as smart!

An absolutely ridiculous argument. It’s like a car crash but I can’t stop looking at it. It’s so off topic aswell it’s great craic. What I would have to say is this.
Kevin – If you think ‘pounding pavements’ is doing your bit for this country it is perfectly clear why the country is the way it is. How are you doing any good for the people other than yourself and your party?

I’m on me iPhone kev ya clob :0)

FFS shaw when are you going to get it people are sick of the treachery and lies your party of traitors are spewing .

kev has his solar panels aimed at the moon.

Grow up, you fool. Of course they do it because they like doing it. What do you want, a medal? Don’t hold your breath.

I don’t see Fine Gael cutting their fat salaries and perks. Noonan states that he can’t touch the the large pensions that former ministers receive, for legal reasons and yet is able to cut wages of the lower paid in the public service despite previous agreements entered with the various sections of the public service

The cheek of Shatter ! He doesn’t speak for the Irish people. Are we, a bankrupt country, paying for this weasel to go to terrorist Israel and spout this drivel ? Lies Shatter ! Resign !

my oneskin lies over my twoskin,my twoskin lies over my three,my threeskin lies over in Israel.Oh give back my foreskin to me.

Yes, exactly and yet in croke park 2 they’re proposing to cut salaries and at the same time let public servants retire on pre 2008 salaries! So they’re cutting working people’s raw to increase pensions! Making the hard choices? What a joke of a party!

They do it because theh get plenty of tax payers moneu to line their corrupt pockets with ya muppet

They do it because they get plenty of money to line their corrupt pockets with ya muppet

I sincerely hope that the future of the country is not resting on the shoulders of the trolls above.

Shatter could not care less what party he rides to power as long as he gets power and then does as much damage to the Irish nation as possible during his stay,while furthering Israeli interests along the way of course.
He does not speak for the Irish people,most people in Ireland do not support the criminal state of Israel.

I would love to know what international pressure,bribery,or blackmail led to Edna Kenny to appoint such an obvious fifth columnist to such a position within the Irish govt, I expect time will tell.

Ha ha ha

bless you kevin and may the lord forgive you,,, so you were the one peddling lies at the doorsteps on behalf of your fine gael masters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt_J_c447ro

Not a cent more for the banks, vows FG
Thursday, February 10, 2011
FINE GAEL insisted it would not commit “another cent” to the banks on top of the €35 billion agreed to under the EU/IMF bailout deal.

Kenny says ‘we’ll pay our dues’ a year after Varadkar said ‘not another cent’
09/02/12 4,863 Views 100 Comments
A year ago today Leo Varadkar said that not another red cent would be paid to the banks. Today, the Taoiseach has insisted we will not seek to impose any losses on bondholders.

http://awakenlongford.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/a-little-reminder-of-the-fine-gael-liars-in-action/

Shatter is in a bubble saying things like that .

He had better be. He has no mandate from me to give any assurances to the state of Israel.

Wouldn’t believe a word uttered from his mouth and being totally honest I actually couldn’t give a ***** about anything to do with this miserable two faced gobsh*te.
More important,my holiday is going just great.

He’s emasculated the Gardai and destroyed the army. Whats he up to now

He’s not speaking for me.

@Paul
if you wanna bitch about the guards and the army then get on to a thread that’s about guards and army, neither groups have anything to bitch about compared to what the Palestinians are going through….

Who in power actually thought it would be a good idea to let him of all people to travel to the middle east representing us? Were they not afraid that he’d try to speak?

Every thread seems to be hijacked by bitching guards……………..can we block comments from garda station ip addresses……………

Who bitched about the guards or army they’re bitching about shatter

Well the thread is about the Minister for Justice & Defence who has responsibility for the Gardaí and Army.

He’s fair game.

How do you know/think these commenters are guards. The guards aren’t the only people pissed off with this particular Minister.

Ireland needs to be stronger in our support for Israel, the only democracy in that region, the only one that doesn’t persecute gays, women, religious minorities as part of government policy. Sadly ignorance of what is really happening in the region is rampant in Ireland. People believe the nonsense photo-shopped maps & lies peddled by SF & co in their pro-Palestinian guise. If these people really wanted to help ordinary Palestinans they’d be putting pressure on the religious nutters in power there to end their intentions of destroying Israel & negotiate a real 2 state solution.

The real issue between Israel on one side and Hamas and the other Islamist radical groups on the other is not Palestinian land or Arab land, but Islamic land. Islamic doctrine says that any land that has ever been under Muslim rule but is ruled by infidels must be returned to Islamic rule. Arab states occupy 99.3 per cent of the area of the Middle East and all have Muslim majorities and governments. Israel, even with the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) included, occupies 0.7 per cent of the Middle East. But no matter how small, its existence cannot be tolerated by Islamists.
Unless we understand this, the 12,000 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001 make no sense, as neither do the 1,2000 Israeli victims of Hamas and other terrorists in the Second Intifada after Israel at Camp David had offered the Palestinians a state of their own in 95%+ of the West Bank and all of Gaza, an offer they walked away from.

Well, look who it is, everybodys favourite plagariser is back.

http://www.dailyedge.ie/gaza-death-toll-israel-679855-Nov2012/#comment-738877

You on the meter tonight thomas/mel/kevin etc. or whoever you are today?

Regarding comments about Israel committing genocide. The dictionary definition of genocide is the wiping out of a people. Since 1948 when the State of Israel was recognised by the UN, Palestinian Arabs have increased in number from approx 800,000, to approx 7,000,000.
Either Israel is doing a terrible job of effecting a genocide, or you have your definition very wrong. Attempts to say Israel is an apartheid state are equally factually wrong. Arabs both Christian & Muslim & other minorities such as Druze have far more rights & protection in Israel than in neighbouring states. Arabs serve in the military, are judges & are MPs. Sadly some people’s attitudes towards Israel are driven by pure hatred & will never listen to the truth but hopefully a few facts might change the minds of those whose anti-Israel attitudes comes from believing the one-sided propaganda of the Palestinian rent-a-mob crowd.

When Isreal begins to respect international law, then and only then will we begin to respect them Ok ?

Facts are Facts Mr Jamming. You must have a great life to be going back over my previous comments to see if I have repeated statistics.

you have not repeated statistics, you have either plagarised other peoples posts word for word, or are posting identical posts under multiple identities.

You can’t argue with the facts werejamming so you resort to trying to insult the messenger.

Heres TFM in action, identical post to the one here across multiple threads, they like to use different identities too:

(add http://www to the beginning)

.thejournal.ie/hillary-clinton-israel-gaza-681273-Nov2012/#comment-741097

.thejournal.ie/rupert-murdoch-sunday-times-apology-773683-Jan2013/#comment-892852

.thejournal.ie/hillary-clinton-israel-gaza-681273-Nov2012/#comment-741097

.thejournal.ie/israel-elections-netanyahu-yair-lapid-765606-Jan2013/#comment-877277

.thejournal.ie/israel-contraceptives-immigrants-772214-Jan2013/#comment-890714

& all the comments I made are true & are supported by statistics from independent sources. All you have are photoshopped maps & far too much time on your hands to go through every topic I comment on & link them.

So are you plagarising or posting under multiple identities?

Shatter is a jew himself so he would say that wouldnt he

Yea, there Muslim religion is a bummer.

..their…

So are TFM and Shatter pro Semites then?
I can never get the Semite thing right.
Like is it anti Semite to mention Semite, and why does our justice minister feel the need to support them?

yes, there is a huge difference between anti-semitism and anti israels aggressive expansionist policies, most israel supporters however cannot tell the difference

Shatter is trying to play the anti-semite card because he’s in Israel and they’re obsessed with it. When will he realize that the reason we don’t like him has nothing to do with his religion?

Its a standard comment used to begin sentences, open dialogue or order pizza in some places!

Except Shatter has got a case; there was an anti-semitic video on Youtube that was later removed that attacked him and Irish Jewish academic Ronit Lentin. Is anyone else in the Dail attacked on the grounds of their ethnicity or religion?

Ok, I wasn’t aware of that. Was it really anti-semitic ie not just criticising them but actual hate speech? If so then fair enough, he has a case on this. In answer to your final question: yes – Catholics. For example, remember Mulherin and her fornication speech?

Just in case: I didn’t mean to excuse or downplay any anti-semitic attacks on Shatter.

Nobody on here is ‘attacking’ shatter for being jewish stephen, we’re having a go because he is speaking on our behalf to support an entity that regularly commits crimes against humanity and breaches international law, which he has no right to do

He is an elected representative of this country and he is speaking about another nation we currently have diplomatic ties to on the behalf of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition, which is generally seen as less anti-Israel than the last Fianna Fail government.

Actually stephen, the only people who can legitimately speak on behalf of our nation are the President, the Taoiseach and our minister for foreign affairs.

Also, censored, TD Mulherin brought her own private faith into a public Dail debate and she was fair game to have her own religious views criticised, considering she decided to bring the “grace of God” and the “fallen nature” into the secular sphere of government.

Maybe. That said, I’m not sure we are seeing a huge level of religion based attacks on any TD. Are we?

Yea too right

Shatter is a serious embarrassment to Ireland.

Ciara what in Israel is aparteid-esque??? There is more justice and freedom for arabs, christians, muslims (not to mention every other religion) , women etc. in Israel than there is in any other middle eastern country. Isreal is a liberal democracy which gives freedoms to all. “Disgusting treatment” ??? every citizen of israel (regardless of religion, race, origin, gender etc.) gets the right to vote and stand in elections and have important government positions, all can start and own businesses, own private property, be judges in courts, play on the national sports teams, serve in the army, police etc. etc. etc. They can and they do. Do you know tht ALL road sign in isael are written in english, hebrew and arabic? And yes, I admit that people from the disputed territories get treated differently as they’re not israeli citizens. What do you expect??? the reaon for this is because most palestinians (and their governments hamas and PA) don’t recognise the right of any israeli state to even exist . Up until the building of the security wall (which for most of it is only an electric fence) in 2002 there were 220 civilians killed in israel by palestinian terrorists, then as the wall began to be builtin 2003 that dropped to 142 deaths, 2004 = 55, 2005= 23, 2006 = 15, 2007 = 3 , 2008 =1 get te picture???? it’s not aparteid, it’s protecting the civilians. Quite frankly you know nothing about israel. by the way in your so called aparheid-esque state 82% of arabs (arabs are 1/5 of the population) in Israel would rather live there than in ANY other country in the world. you hope to discredit the most free, democratic state in the entire middle east by linking it to a system that doesn’t exist, and that is something that is completely disgusting.

If it is such a fantastic democracy why have there been over 200 UN resolutions against them? Why would such an eden and safe haven attack even their greatest ally the US? Why let minors languish in jail? A ‘liberal democracy’ does not break international law at a whim. Their ambassador should have been kicked out of this country with the passport scandal. Quite frankly you care nothing for international law.

@The Heathen
The reason there are so many UN Resolutions against Israel, is that there are 56 Muslim states that vote against Israel as a block. Check out how many resolutions there are against any other state. None even come close.

Sorry – just read the rest of your post. It’s not actually a question is it – more a condemnation and a catch all smear? Tell me if I’m wrong.

Israel is like any other democracy and first world state, not perfect and could certainly do better. But to accuse it of every and any evil under the sun is simply not reasonable.

On the accusation of genocide, there are now more Palestinian Arabs than ever before. On the accusation of apartheid, Israeli Arabs have the same opportunities as Jewish or Christian Israelis. They vote, they serve in parliament, in the armed forces, in the judiciary, as doctors, in business – the accusation of apartheid, separate development is simply wrong.

Is Israel perfect? No. Is Ireland? I guess not but how many UN resolutions are there against Ireland?

Many resolutions have been brought by non-Muslim countries. State sponsored assassinations by Israel have drawn resolution after resolution. Does the use of white phosphorous in populated areas make ‘Israel like any other democracy and first world state’? No it certainly does not!
How dare you compare Ireland to Israel. We do not commit war-crimes and we do not break international law without batting an eyelid. These are not smears but proven facts on the world stage. Do not come on here and and accuse me of throwing wild accusations. These are cold hard facts that are constantly evaded. Israel cannot be a democracy if they break more international laws than Iran or North Korea.

Nonsense

Total disrespect for international law

As the terrorists Hamas won’t allow Jews and have recently taken to kidnapping and forcing Palestinian Christians in Gaza to convert to Islam, your statement should read those who support Hamas support apartheid and terrorism. Israel is not apartheid no matter how much the left claim it is.

youi’re full of ca ca……The state of Israel is situated on stolen land, it’s a racist state that promotes apartheid.

Ghettos to make the Warsaw Ghetto blush, military occupation and forced plantations. All in violation of UN laws and resolutions. Sure isn’t Israel a grand little country? I wonder how Hamas could ever fight against such a country and why Palestinians would support them.

Stop apologising for palistinian terrorists and wake up…. Israel is a democracy amongst a sea of lunatics that protects rights for all it citizens. .. including israeli Arabs. ..

Marc, I was going to write a long reply to your post. But seeing as the best you can do is say “Israel is a democracy so it can do whatever it likes” I don’t have to. The only thing I will say is that, by your logic, Palestine can bomb Israel to the Stone Age as they are also a democracy (and Hamas were voted in by what was proven to be a fair and democratic election) and their existence is threatened by Israel.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I was under the impression that Gilmore is Minister for Foreign affairs .. is Shatter expressing personal views or has this been sanctioned by Kenny/Gilmore?? If not then Kenny has to reign in that leash before all kinds of misinterpretations occur.

There are lots of apartheid regimes in the Middle East, eg Saudi Arabia, but Israel isn’t one. Jew, Christian, Arab are all free to run for election and to go about their daily business. This is yet another idea dreamt up by antisemitic left wing groups following the failures of their previous campaigns against Israel. Thankfully the world is moving on, seeing the truth and even in the EU people are realising just how wrong these campaigns against a democratic country were and are.

How can you claim on one hand that Israel is multicultural and immediately follow up with a claim that a campaign against them is antisemitic?

Who by the way have degraded all UN resolutions through thier noncomitment and total dissregard, to the laughingstock of the whole world.International laws ? Ok but not for us.

You see there you go again with the anti-semitic rhetoric! People have a huge and quite just problem with Israeli policy but do not have a problem with the Jewish people. To label these people anti-semetic is wrong and dangerous. To constantly use this allegation and play on a war guilt that should be long over is malicious. Anti-semitism and anti-Israel are two seperate things for the vast majority of people.

@Richard

Your ignorance about israel is mind boggling.

So when someone says something-legitimate- that’s negative about Israel it means that they’re immediately antisemitic?!? What a ridiculous comment. Their treatment of Palestinians is abominable and the world stands idly by, and here comes one of our idiotic politicians and tells them we’re their friends. Maybe they should be told that any country involved in suppression of this magnitude cannot possibly be anyone’s friend. And playing the ‘we’re poor hated Jews’ card every time anyone criticises them over this is nothing but disrespectful to the poor people who actually suffered throughout history because of antisemitism.

There are a lot of apartheid regimes in the middle east, I agree Saudi Arabia,as you mention being one of the worst diktatorships ( with our support) We just want from Isreal that it becomes a real democracy. It is not on a good road.This road like SA and GER means self destruction

Not very long ago , a survey carried out in France asked people, among other things,who in their opinion would be the cause of the next world war. The majority of young people said Israel.
As a response the Israely Government sharply critisized the French Government and media for not informing their citizens properly.
Not much room for critical self reflection there, im afraid.

Eh, weren’t they sterilising black Jewish immigrants
against their will and without knowledge?

That’s complete nonsense and a fabrication of the truth – in so many ways Israel has implemented what could only be described as apartheid like policies. To suggest otherwise is to be blind to the facts

Brendan.

They weren’t sterilizing them. They were forcing them to take contraceptive injections as part of the deal to allow them to stay.

The people are (please correct me if I’m wrong) and Ethiopian minority who are Jewish of faith (and always have been). There are about 100,000 of them but Israel won’t allow them all in. So they have let about 30k in so far but the women aren’t allowed to have children.

Such a democratic eden!

Great woman, Rachel, oh for the world being full of people like her instead of people like shatter

Red thumbs for Rachel Corry? What kind of a despicable sh ite would red thumb that girl?

Red thumbs are israelis

@Truth

Who else only the israelis would red thumb Rachel. Probably the ones who are paid to keep on changing their IP addresses and thumbing up comments in favour of israhell!

Yes it is.

Great photo of Shatter there with his mouth open as usual … in uk-news (lol)

the plot thickens – kudos to you and Mary and indeed the twitter machine and the hinterweb and the Journal.
I like to think that the truth will set us free – probably too innocently optimistic but there you have it !

Or maybe he isn’t. The “I have experienced anti-Semitism” remark threw me a bit.

Killing innocent people? I thought that was a Muslim trait.

as an owner of a cushion ,several in fact, and having had my dog since it was a pup I find that your comment is dangerously close to breaching that commandment that’s on about coveting neighbour’s goods ; Down with that sort of thing !

Chris, you’ll get comment of the week yet bud :-)

Sorry about the errors, chubby fingers…

Tom I don’t agree with any suicide bombers or any injuring of any innocent people. BUT this is a conflict caused by one country, Israel. I don’t agree with the killing or injuring of any innocent people. End of.

To say this is a conflict caused by one country is ridiculous; when the crusades went to Jerusalem in the middle ages they found christians, muslims and jews living together in peace. A strong jewish population has lived there for thousands of years despite the best efforts of the romans to wipe them off the face of the earth.

Peace will only result when all parties sit around the table prepared to make concessions for peace; until Hamas stop allowing failed states such as Syria and Iran to arm impressionable youth and hardened terrorists; Israel will rightly defend its citizens against unprovoked rocket attacks on its citizens. Do you think the Irish population would tolerate those flag waving lunatics despatching explosive devices without an overwhelming clamour for action.

The first move is for Hamas.

Did we really? I thought that was just anti-Irish propaganda. Can you point to some references on that?

@censored I actually do have reference for that. Human rights module I did in college. That was looking at the treatment of black emigrants in Ireland.

Now I’m even more confused. Are you talking about neo nazis, Jews fleeing the Holocaust, or the treatment of black emigrants?

Let’s keep it simple. I’m not aware of any neo nazi (nazi surely, rather than neo?) allowed into Ireland after WWII so can you point to a reference or name one? I’m genuinely interested in this because I’ve heard this claim several times since Stuart Neville wrote his latest crime fiction book Ratlines.

Seamus, I bet you got a fail in college.

@Declan Suggest you read a history book Pal. Happy St Patricks Day.

Hi Christine,

The above “code of conduct” is pure and utter horse shit. The journal, just like any other private journalistic medium “plays the player” all the time. In fact, the vast majority of your stories are aimed at individuals. Although the journal does cover topical issues you are as guilty if not more than the people who place comments on these pages. Furthermore, I have seen comments removed that were not insulting or degrading to any one individual. They were removed because the author/s did not like the way the conversation flowed. (bit like China) Even this comment is destined to be removed.

In fairness the Journal should ensure this comments policy applies to all topics on here… say anything un pc about gays, foreigners, muslims etc oh sure its instant comment removal and often being banned. But its a free for all when it comes to people who practice the catholic religion. Some of the comments are shocking….

Jaysus Christ Tom, give me a bloody break … Its the religious nut job (catholic/Jewish or otherwise) that have caused the majority of wars on this planet … Leave religion to the extremists, the rest of us are sick of religious indoctrination and ‘die in my name’ or for my country crap.
All religious zealots should be put on an island somewhere and left to fight it out amongst themselves… meanwhile the rest of the non-santa= believers, could get on with trying to make this planet a better place..

Christine. I really think you should leave those comments up so that reasonable people can see the bigotry & lies that Israel faces on a daily basis. Holocaust deniers & co should be identified & shamed.

Well then, why don’t you identify the ‘holocaust deniers’ round here…..

Just stop breaking stuff, alright!

Hi Christine,
there is a MASSIVE amount of ‘anti Catholic’, & ‘anti Christian’ comments, after some Journal articles.
Not just directed at clergy, – but at ordinary catholics as well
I respect peoples right express anger, – or to speak freely, – but also to use some form of basic courtesy & respect.
Why does the comments policy not apply to christians/catholics?

And we the Irish tax payers are footing the bill for this dunces visit to a terrorist state. The guy is an embarrassment at home and abroad.

The sooner we can get rid of this garbage and his dunbo pocket lining journeymen the better.

Gaza ? Warsaw ? We seem to forget ??

Ok, thats every single post on this thread by TFM thats been a copy paste job from multiple other threads about israel on thejournal.

Propaganda machine stuff pay well this weather murray/thomas/mel or whoever you are this week?

Did you follow my comments on the hurling club final & Airtricity league etc or is it only comments about Israel that give you a hard on that makes you want to stalk me around Journal.

The links don’t lie, are you plagarising or posting under multiple identities?

agree Jay,
thats how it works
The usual easy targets.

Patricia I think you have your wires crossed.

Israeli’s force Palestinians of their land.

Travelers force their way onto other peoples land.

That’s strange because the Irish government has built houses for travellers, but the israeli government consistently knocks down palestinian homes.

The government don’t support that contention , they are spending a fortune on travellers , so it’s probably just a bit of jealousy from those people who work for a living, many who used to be indigenous as well until the Lisbon Treaty, maybe I’m wrong or maybe it’s just that the travellers call us a derogatory name as well – “Buffers”.
By the way I like some if not all travellers and know many of them, that doesn’t mean I’d trust them , just as I’m sure they don’t trust me !
Never mind the travellers- on this article –
Arah sure Alan is just gone checking the spuds for Tesco

Your wrong, the travellers were forced off their land here during the famine.

Patricia are you for real? Would you ever go away and buy a history book for Gods sake. Oh and here’s something you can look up. If, as you assert, the Travelers were forced off their land then who or what Government foced them off it?

so you keep saying

Patricia: Everyone who couldn’t pay the landlord was forced off their land during the famine, not just Travellers. They are no more indigenous than me or my family, they just like to use that term when trying to claim all sorts of injustices that they imagine the rest of the country has perpetrated against them. To compare members of the traveling community to the situation in Palestine is misguided at best, maybe naive, but certainly just wrong.

Patricia , if you actually spoke to travellers you would find that they trace their “roots” back to war not famine ; I was surprised when I heard it too having heard that the famine was the cause .
An interesting note from history is that when the Irsh went to war against the invaders , the men went to war but only after the women and children were safely hidden away in the forests , i get the feeling that the travellers are from those who were on the wrong side of one of these wars ! Their men lost and they lost everything !
It also leads me to believe that Henry the 8th’s destruction of the forests had as much to do with battle tactics as it had to do with ship-building !

Brian with a surname like yours I am surprised you are as ignorant as you are. The British regime and government forced millions of irish off the land. It is believed many travellers descended from the absolute poorest who couldnt afford to emigrate. They were left to wander around….

I was told that the Irish travellers were descended from the Roma gipsy community in Romania???

Tom, far from being ignorant of the heritage of my name, it’s origins and and the fact that my ancestors who were once Bards to the chieftens of Ireland, I am well aware of my ancestry.

On the other hand lets look at your level of learning and comprehension.

Patricia has asserted that Ireland has practiced apartheid against travelers for centuries. I asked her to buy a history book and look up about travelers being forced off their land during the famine and ” who or what Government forced them off it?”

Luckily I am one of the “settled” Wards and even got schooling for a while so that now I can write on this Interweb thing.

@ n49 – the programme the “blood of the travellers” found that they are here since the bronze age. I didn’t see it but an archaeologist told me that was the result ; of course that does not mean that the Roma and all irish are not related . All blue eyed people can be traced back to one individual who lived around the Black Sea area 10,000 years ago +- a few years .
The big mystery in all this is where did the Hittites go? I believe without an ounce of proof that they became the Roman Empire.

@ Brian ; joke – you left out Sir ! at the end.

Dermot I’ve only just finished calling people “Boss”!

Brian ; we should invent a new word ;”Bossir!”

@ Patricia ; Whether it was war or famine it is not me that’s wrong ; it was the travellers that told me that would be wrong in this case ; being pedantic I know and not insulted just clarifying !

I also might be a bit pedantic but how can a traveler be forced off their land. Surely if you are a traveler then you don’t actually have land , hence the word traveler as opposed to settler.

MAry I do sympathise with your view. However we have not moved all travellers behind a barricade and rolled over them with bulldozers and tanks…. Most of the discrimination comes from cultural differences between settled people and travellers !

Patricia, sorry!

It’s obvious now that you are just a repetitive TROLL who has nothing useful to add to the discussion..

@Zionist Bot Troll! Israel is no friend of Irelands, they proved that when they forged Our passports to commit murder! Shatter’s views are not representative of the people of Ireland. I would strongly question his own loyalties to this state after that comment!

Call me old fashioned, but a really good way of not being imprisoned is to not keep breaking the law. And if you do get caught and locked up, you are not the victim and it is certainly not apartheid

Patricia; just a few points ;
1. there was at least one traveller who was Mayor of Tuam and well done to him , I met him and he’s the same as ourselves
2. Just because the travellers are not the actual people on the councils don’t think for one second that they are not or at least have not been represented at the highest level for years .
Horses have been a very good “deposit account” for travellers for years ; why do you think that they, horses, have not been subject to the tightest of control measures in terms of traceability and where have all the horses that are in the burgers have come from?
Travellers have been getting rid of their horses since the new passports have come in.
Offaly was where the latest horses were found with “irregularities” , and Offaly County Council was in charge of inspections ; not implying anything but loose regulation has allowed many travellers to build up a fortune in hidden wealth for years in horseflesh in my opinion !
with regard to separate schools this is not the case in the towns in my county and many of these schools are deis schools which means that the children are given breakfast in school in at least one school I know of !
look; travellers are not travellers , they are irish that have been harshly treated over the years because they in many cases they chose to live free and I respect them for that but there is an element as there is in every level of society that give them a bad name !
One point worth noting was that a gynacologist told a friend of mine that traveller babies during the seventies were among the healthiest born and he said he put it down to all the eggs they got for free from farmers ; this was at a time when many of them lived in tents at the side of the road . the horse , the caravan the sulky racing are all a “culture that has sprung up since Social welfare was introduced to this country !
I remember as a child travellers living on the side of the road in a tent ; There was one family that had a tent in one spot , the father of that family had 11 sons in the space of the intervening thirty years that one man has filled two towns with his offspring ; so what I say they deserve their chance they were oppressed for long enough but don’t think that they are being oppressed by the State !

Dermot, reading this site might save you a lot of typing http://queenofhibernia.wix.com/my-testimony#!the-home-of-the-fianna

You have not got a clue what you are talking about. Irish people, who class themselves as travellers or whatever, enjoy all the same rights and freedoms that every other Irish citizen does. They may make different choices about the way they live their lives (and they are free and welcome to do so that is democracy) and some of these choices have unfortunate circumstances as you have mentioned in your post. Remember, these are their own personal choices influenced by family and friends; there is no policy against any Irish citizens. The points you make are just dubious rubbish and made up drivel of a self deluded fool.

Patricia – The traveller issue is an entirely separate one; no-one can say with any certainty where the origins are of every traveller, The Field by John B Keane is a good example of social attitudes in the past towards travelling people but not all held that view; a late grand uncle of mine happily served travellers at his licensed premises in Galway for many decades.

The Israel issue is entirely unrelated to Irish travellers who are a pretty diverse bunch and have their towns where they are accepted and those where the prior conduct of some members of the wider community has left locals sceptical of others.

For me the issue on Israel is simple, does a sovereign government have the right to defend itself against terror attacks from outside its borders where the neighbouring government is not prepared to prevent terror outside their borders?

thanks brian !

its stems from pure hatred for a useless minister in a useless government who lied there way into office,, As for Israel im sure if a poll were done tomorrow Palestine would have more support than Israel,, it wouldnt have anything to do with either religion it would be more to do with one state taking another by brute force