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ONE OF THE biggest stories of the week wasn’t actually news to anyone.
Widely-publicised figures from Eurostat showed that Ireland is one of the worst performing countries in Europe when it comes to adults between the ages of 25 and 29 living in the family home, better only than Croatia, Slovakia, Greece and Italy.
More than two-thirds of people in that age cohort still live with their parents which, as noted, will not be new information to those of us trying to convince ourselves we are real adult human beings while operating out of the same bedroom that we once decorated with – in my case at least – a framed poster of Scarface for some reason.
There is no shortage of indignity associated with Ireland’s housing crisis, but this week’s figures tap into some new shame, a fresh realisation of embarrassment.
The housing crisis makes us look like a bunch of mama’s boys. It makes us look like we need the crust cut off our sandwiches. A bunch of Milhouses. You cannot feel like a real person if your bedroom looks like it smells like Lynx Africa and FIFA 2003.
This has been established in romcom after romcom.
Do you think 90s Sandra Bullock would date a man who still lived with his parents? Never. What do you think the Sex and The City women would think of us? They’d hunt us for sport, and they’d be right to do it.
It briefly looked like we’d finally found a solution to our economic woes this week, but even Bank of Ireland’s short-lived surprise unofficial stimulus package is unlikely to do enough to bridge the gap for these frustrated young people.
Some glitch in Bank of Ireland’s digital infrastructure meant for one evening, customers could remove up to €1,000 from their account. Until now the banking apps have only ever worked against us. It felt appropriate that, just once, the bank’s tech screwed up in the other direction and just started pumping out money.
Yes, for one shining moment this week, it seemed as though we’d discovered the perfect crime. That is until you think about it for like five seconds and realise that robbing money from your own bank account, using a debit card that’s in your own name, provided to you by the bank you’re now trying to rob, attached to an account number that the bank probably keeps on file somewhere, is sadly not the masterstroke it seemed upon first glance.
Following the outage yesterday, the App and 3650nline are back working again. Overnight payments to accounts may appear throughout the day. We sincerely apologise for the disruption this outage caused - we know it fell far below the standards our customers expect from us.
— Bank of Ireland (@talktoBOI) August 16, 2023
If anyone thought that the guys who refuse to pass on interest rate gains to savers and charge us quarterly fees to let them hold on to our money were going to simply let this one slide then, sadly, they live in a more idyllic fantasy of this world than the rest of us.
Still, huge respect for anyone who did have the commitment to hit the ATM. Even if you have to give the money back, if the bank looks like it’s giving away money for even an hour, it’s your obligation to go and take the money. It’s like clapping when someone drops a pint. It’s the only way they’ll learn.
Bank of Ireland say they have since reclaimed all of the money that escaped, which is lucky because if 500,000 people had each made off with €1,000, the bank’s profits would only be half a billion right now, which would be a human tragedy.
It had already been a week rich with absurdity, then, when new RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst dropped the bombshell on Thursday night that there would be no readeption for Ryan Tubridy. Despite a proposal to bring Tubridy back at a salary of €170,000, negotiations fell through at the last minute and Bakhurst pulled the plug and broke up with Tubridy over the phone.
Since the original scandal broke, Tubridy has made various public pronouncements that probably haven’t helped his case – with either the public or RTÉ – but it was this week’s response to the Grant Thornton report that broke the camel’s Bakhurst (no, no, don’t applaud).
Sheriff Kevin has been ruthless in his own statements since dropping Tubridy, detailing the split in a way that feels almost like we’re learning a bit too much.
Bakhurst told Morning Ireland that Tubridy “was not aware” of the level of resistance among RTÉ staff to his return, and that Tubridy was “shocked and disappointed” when he found out he wouldn’t be gracing the grounds of Montrose again. Yes, we want transparency, Kevin, but that doesn’t mean you need to tell us that you made Ryan Tubridy cry.
It would be naive to think that this is the final chapter in a saga that has defined the summer news cycle. As one of Ireland’s best known public figures, whatever Ryan Tubridy chooses to do next – now cut loose from the RTÉ umbilical cord – will be a matter of intense interest.
Who is Ryan Tubridy when he’s not on RTÉ? Maybe he’ll start his own unauthorised Late Late Show. Maybe he’ll start wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses. Maybe he’ll take up bodybuilding and get shredded and start doing street-fights. Maybe he’ll start a podcast. Nobody knows, that’s the beauty of it! He’ll almost certainly start a podcast.
For his part, Bakhurst’s tone has been professional, but ultimately unrelenting. “I hope for him there is demand (from other stations) because he’s a talented guy… He’s got a mortgage to pay,” he said on Friday morning. Pretty much: So long, Ryan! Good luck with the mortgage, hope you don’t end up back in your childhood bedroom like the rest of them!
Ice cold.
““I don’t know if it broke the law”. This is the answer from the Leader of the country. Maybe you could ask one of your many advisors or the AG.
@Jack Cass: They spend millions on consultancy/PR, experts even, yet this whole fiasco which initially arose to make an opposition party look bad has only magnified how inept FFG are.
@Frank Cauldhame: SF do look bad as they added an extra layer of deception to the whole sorry practise by inventiong a fictitious company, printing false ids etc etc.
To be honest the whole business is shoddy in the extreme and only reinforces the public view that politicians and political parties are all the same and not to be trusted an inch.
@Justin Gillespie: Nonsense, you’re merely adding an extra layer of whataboutery.
@Frank Cauldhame: No whataboutery involved at all Frank. All the parties admit to polling, only SF went out of their way to deceive people by inventing a PR company, printing false Ids and worst of all printing up a list of lies to tell voters if they were queried.
New politics my backside.
@Justin Gillespie: The whole political system needs to be rebuilt from the ground. FF and FG have the system so corrupt and twisted from 100 years of swapping positions in power that its completely seized up.
@Justin Gillespie: sure thats just another thing SF do better than FF/FG then. A superior party in every way;-)
@merely ed: I have to grant you that one!!!
@David Corrigan: I agree 100% David, how to do it though……
@Justin Gillespie: That is a million dollar question in fairness. I know one thing for certain. We can’t keep going with the system we have.
“OMG scandalous”! Not really, what is more worrying is the amount of people talking about the breach of trust. Anybody that trusts a politician be they SF/FG/FF/LAB/GP/IND and others should consider professional help.
The Irish Independent’s Philip Ryan wrote a biography of Leo Varadkar called ‘Leo: A very modern Taoiseach’.
The Independent is very pro-Fine Gael – having previously been owned by FG sponsor Denis O’Brien.
Philip Ryan broke that story yesterday to damage Sinn Fein. Simon Harris immediately called SF’s behaviour ‘sinister’.
What a pity Philip Ryan didn’t do due diligence on his hit piece.
@Cookie: Sinister is Harris’s favourite word. He turns my stomach listening to him.
@David Corrigan: Sinister Simon lol
why did this occur ? Philip Ryan spindo editor, co author of Leos book, doing his usual trying to fling mud at SF. But for 2nd time caused blowback on his hero and other parties. His bias is there for all to see, its a pity he dosent spend even half the time actually investigating those that are actually in power as those that are not. And when he might even do some he approaches it from defending those in power. He is a hypo crite and a presstitute.
Its SF masquerading as political party thats the main concern to those with a perspective on reality.
@Bain triail aisti: You can’t take a dig at one party though, all the parties did it
@Bain triail aisti: It appears you have lost your grip on reality.
@Paul Cunningham: Wasnt related to the polling “crisis”, was a general observation. Look at their TDs here or MPs in the north.
They’ve no skillsets to fulfill their positions.
The Brazilian cl8wn getting elected was similar, turned out to be a farce and a drain on resources.
@Paul Cunningham: Only SF took it to the level of inventing a makey up polling company, printing false ids, and then having the gall to say that they couldn’t afford a real polling company to do it for them. Northern Bank money finally. gone then?
@Bain triail aisti: We’ve had Taoisigh whose only experience is a couple years teaching decades ago and you’re going on about SF lack of skillset? We get it you don’t like them but don’t act like other parties are particularly brilliant. Every horrendous act that the state has ever done or allowed to happen was done by either a Fianna Fail or Fine Gael led government.
@Bain triail aisti: You are claiming that when we had a FG college dropout parading around the place as a health minister for the last few years?
Read that to yourself a few times. He didn’t have the ability to finish college and he gets put in charge of the largest budget in the state? It’s actually very alarming to think that this could happen in this day and age.
@David Corrigan: What worse is they made dept of Higher Education to give him a seat at the table and he no higher education qualifications, minister of children, no children. Minister of Transport, hates transport. Minister of Rural affairs from Dublin, minister for fisheries from offaly, minister of health an engineer, leader of Seanad fought to abolish the Seanad…
@Da Dell: Richard Pryor would have got two years comedy material out of the state of our political system. It’s extremely funny if it wasn’t so bloody serious!
@David Corrigan: He removed himself from his college spot to focus on the the 2011 election, had he failed to get elected at the young age of 20, he would have returned and completed his qualification.
He didnt lack the capacity to complete his course.
Those are the facts of why he is one of the only member of An Rialtas without some formal qualification, which I assume he will address in due course. He still is young so has plenty of time to address this short falling in his CV.
To put some context on short fallings on CVs, imagine had Brady been our representative during the Brexit discussions, can you image how he would have been lampooned by the UK tabloids, luckily for him and his family SF were not in power at the time.
I can look through some of your other posts and correct your other inaccuracies if you wish.
Let me know.
Always here to help.
@JB: Qualifying ones self to attain a degree shows motivation and the ability to complete tasks.
Those skillsets are interchangeable to suit politics.
@Bain triail aisti: Harris is a weasel, wrote a speech for Kenny and got his due rewards for kissing the right rears. The irony of you correcting inaccuracies in others posts is hilarious. Think somewhere today, or maybe it was yesterday you were claiming that SF were promising eclipses ffs lol. Thanks for all the giggles though, hope you stay as funny when ya grow up lol.
@Da Dell: You mean you didnt get the humour in the eclipse reference to populist nonsense promises!!
Really ?
Its called sarcasm.
For future reference
Sarcasm
/ˈsɑːkaz(ə)m/
noun
the use of irony to mock or convey contempt
@Bain triail aisti: whatever ya do dont try it with FG populist nonsense promises over the last decade or so, not enough time in the world to cover that, an the fact we have historical evidence of the failure of those, from political reform & accountability, sacking the wasters of taxpayer monies, not another cent to the banks, reducing and reforming the public service, capping public sector salaries at 200k, fixing the Health Service, no more people on trolleys, thousands more beds and nurses, building 10s of thousands of house’s, fast broadband for all, abolishing the USC, 5% tax on income over 100k etc etc etc. But we did get a property tax, sugar tax, massive overspending on likes of NCH, a worse HSE, health crisis, housing crisis, homeless crisis, etc etc etc. yeah FG are great.
@Justin Gillespie: You’ll be delighted to know, that FG payed people, who used business cards from non-existent polling companies lol.
@Bain triail aisti: So you still see nothing wrong with a young fella with no formal education being put in charge of an organisation with the largest budget in the country?
Don’t bother trying to correct my true statements mate. Put that time into getting your own head in order.
@David Corrigan: You have failed to absorb the information I’ve shared, or not read it correctly.
Its a major short falling on his CV to not have a proper qualification, however there were stenuating circumstances 10 years ago that created this void, however this should be addressed soon.
Its a very poor image internationally of our An Rialtas to have a member with a CV like Harris’s.
Its good that we both now see how important CVs are for TDs, and how unfit the majority of SF TDs are to be in their roles.
I have this recurring nightmare of being on a zoom or teams call, and an American saying to me, “Hey Bob, I see the IRA are running your country now”
And i would have no retort.
If SF were a fully qualified professional party I would have some defence by saying these are well suited politicians and SF have long moved on from being a party of ex-cons and radicals with nothing of substance behind them..
Alas tis not the case.
This is as Irish as it gets, the once outrageous situation becomes increasingly acceptable once all parties have admitted, or have been caught out doing similar?!
This also has a bizarre level of similarity to the Dáil voting scandal which was also swiftly swept out of view once it became known that the practice was widespread.
This is deception and is unjustifiable
Yet another hatchet job that backfired on a hack that is in the pocket of one of the biggest parties…
We have another generation now being drove away and thats the drivel they feed us…
Where is the real criticism of the governance thats driving young people to leave to to the rope…
Its a disgrace
It seems this isn’t as big an issue as it was initially portrayed when the story broke as all parties seem to do some form of this polling. However SF’s approach seems to be the most deceptive – providing members with fake IDs and arming them with prepared lies.
@DeShawn Jersey: Exactly. What I’m I missing here. Sure its party members or supporters that always go on the canvass
@DeShawn Jersey: yawn yawn yawn
@DeShawn Jersey: Deceptive? Read the report below.
“Fine Gael is asking candidates applying for positions in their research team to draft attacks on Sinn Féin as part of their application process.” How messed up is that?
Telling someone you represent a non existant company is lieing.
Asking questions, knowing you have lied, betrays trust placed in you.
@Philip Howlin: Trust?… This is a ‘deep south’ redneck republic, trust no one, take what you can.
Trying to nail sinn fein when they were doing it for years.
@Thomas Linehan: SF pretended to be from a market research company and used fake IDs. That is the MEGA difference
@Craic_a_tower: New MEGA news that FG payed people who used business cards from non-existent polling companies.
I worked for a market research company about 20 years ago. It is a lot more complicated than people think. We used a linguist service to check the scripts to make sure they were not leading questions. For example you could never ask this “ there are 4 options one to four which would you pick?” 75% of people will answer 3 as you mention 1,2 and 4 in the question. Then there is sample size and making sure you get an accurate spread. There was also a code of ethics and lying about the company name was certainly there. Without professional analysis and design the information is worse than useless as it can be misleading
Probably afraid of getting some well deserved criticising rather than party associations affecting the poll results.
More reason to verify the identity of people calling to your door with badges around their necks as the Gardai advise.
Difficult to believe the parties’ claims thst they didn’t collect personal data.
These “polls” were apparently conducted by amateurs, without the ability to exercise the quality controls and adjustments implemented by professional polling companies, so no reliable conclusions could be drawn from the aggregate results.
Information on the political leanings of identifiable individuals would be useful, however.
I reckon the shredders will be overhearing at party hq
Not a SF fan but FG and FF tried to hang SF before finding out everyone else was doing it
have your say