to think the Irish..

[GeruptaSingh]

...do not know a good thing when they are given one

Let them eat cheese: anger as Ireland plans handouts of cheddar to the poor

That is a headline from a newspaper

I wish someone would give me free cheese,I love the stuff

ungratefull buggers

"I swear if they took Liveline off the air there'd be a revolution." That might be a good start! (though DD loves jigging about to the theme tune...)

I heard a very odd vox pop on Friday, lots of people complaining that they don't eat cheese. My dh's family would not be thrilled at cheese (I suspect MIL has butter and beef from previous distributions in her freezer...) My mother was a cheese fan, I feed it to my children ...I wonder if there is a class based issue?

Me 2 Stleger but we had food from the pet shop across the road and got chases by the geese they were vicious we ran away. Yes compared to this morning tonight is shocking.

He should have been met at the arr gate by the gardai and arrested
I am would hate to be in the Dail right now what ever party makes no difference at the moment.
I have no problem with giving out the food I am just not sure that those who really need it will get it though

My ds's business studies teacher last year was trying to get through to the class the size of the mess- she wrote 7 billion with all its zeros (or whatever we thought the billions were last year!)...then the cost of a merc, the cost of a Brian, various costs, to show the sheer scale. The millions are sideshows, it is the lack of ability in politicians to realise that voters can comprehend 'a merc', or 'the price of a junket' which is concerning. My head can't cope with anything more than 10 million (huge great mansion, load of grounds, super lifestyle).

We had only ddog with us, he was bewildered by geese - a lot of them this morning. I want one of the nice houses just along from the pub...

Yeah the billions is to big to really comprehend esp by those of us who will never see a million in you banking figures.
I don't think I could confidently right out a billion with the correct number of zero's

Here in the US we still talk about being "raised on government cheese." Interesting. Will look into this.

Learn to write in 1/2 millions then so Stleger I used to baby sit in one of those houses some day I will win the lotto and own it The pub is nice as well wonderful wine tea and scones

That's very true. People can't comprehend the vastness of it, it's the tangibles that annoy because they are comprehensible.

Didn't the AIB bankers get their huge bonuses this week?

It really is just unbelievable, I'm not sure what one can even say about it. I just keep shaking my head and then remembering that you can't see that on the internet.

oh god I know. Where do you even begin? and you get so focussed on the effects on people you know and care about that you keep forgetting that all this stems from an attempt to prop up some very wealthy, reckless and arrogant people, who (quite rightly) knew that they would never be called to book

Hi Kerry, How are you guys doin? I can see college fees going up and heading for the black hole. I'd rather use the extra to pay for various jobs I need done - bits of electricals, new fence after tonight - and keep people in work.

Or ringfence the extra college fees to build a nasty prison of prefabs to put certain bankers and their mates in. Because it won't go to education.

OP didn't expect this...

stieger - indeed, she didn't! but the money they take off you never goes to what it's supposed to - it's like being in a Kafka novel ('pension levy', more like a 'oh let's throw this money into one of several very deep, large, black holes')...

real poverty is cutting arms/legs off children so they can earn more money beging
mothers turning to prostitution to feed the children
You can complain when it gets that bad

Wukter, you're right about Liveline being a safety valve.

I think one really horrible thing about the free cheese is the way it's being distributed (means testing) and that will resonate with voters because of Famine stories and because with the SVP involvement it's basically your own neighbours who will determine if you get it or not. I think a lot of people would rather not apply even if they could use it because they don't want their nosey neighbours coming into their houses making stupid comments like selling their furniture or clothes (to whom?) and having a good gawk at the state of their lives. I can see SF getting great mileage out of it.

It is a sideshow, though, as is the Irish economy in the bigger scheme of things. They should be beefing up the Revenue Commissioners and trying to get their hands on the millions that have probably left the country in the last few years. But the little details that underline the different realities of 'them' and 'us' add up when election time comes around. However, no political party is going to be able to make a dint in the billions no matter how much they appeal to the electorate.

sorry GS, have gender-typed you! but if you are being tongue-in-cheek, I think the posters on here might have been trying to give you a clue that we are really not in the mood

I think they may prosecute one or two just for show, but nothing serious will come of it.

I don't understand how there weren't safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.

Gs, eff off.

Gerupta, darling, as my grandfather (God rest 'im) used to say:

"Just because your neighbor's over his head in shit doesn't mean what you've got up to your neck is chocolate custard."

Cutting arms and legs off of children is horrible, shocking, disgusting, evil, sad...any terrible thing you can think of, that's it. That doesn't mean that expecting someone to feed their child on cheese is good.

I am just saying that is what they do in countries that ARE poor

I have been to India and seen it for myself