iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

...why is "Winner" in air quotes? This really doesn't fill me with confidence, in all honesty.

Sign outside the Marquette restaurant in Dublin Airport, stating - ' "Winner" Food Hall of the Year 2 Years Consecutively'

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

...are they really making a live-action remake of Moana? Already? Is this seriously a thing? Why?

Bus advert for what seems like a live action remake of Disney's Moana film, for releasw in 10th July.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Try 54-29 in Daniel's favour. I keep seeing the assumption that PBP transfer more to SF, that often isn't the case.

Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats looks likely to be the transfer magnet, and on count day, this will make all the difference if it’s tight at the top. The poll shows Green voters intend to transfer to him at a rate of 32 per cent, People Before Profit (PBP) at 54 per cent and Labour at 22 per cent.
So, among the soft and hard left, Ennis has a significant advantage. And there’s a good bundle of votes there to be had between them; these three candidates have 17 per cent of first preference votes.
Janice Boylan is eclipsed on the left with only 2 per cent of Labour voters swinging for her, and 12 per cent of Green voters. Among PBP voters, the number is stronger at 29 per cent, but still short of Ennis. Interestingly, there will be some votes for Ennis too if he stays in advance of the Government parties – some 14 per cent of Fine Gael voters say they will transfer to the Social Democrats, along with 13 per cent of Fianna Fáil voters (but this is likely to be a smaller number with its candidate failing to ignite).

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Apparently, 8% of Hutch voters will transfer to Ennis. www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

There’s a scattering of support for Sinn Féin preferences from Independent voters, but it won’t add up to many votes, and it looks like to if it is to prevail, Sinn Féin are going to have to muster the mother and father of byelection first preference votes. And if it’s close between Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats, if Hutch goes out, could his transfers to Sinn Féin prove decisive? Hutch voters split for Ennis at only 8 per cent.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Genuinely curious what test of "democratic legtimacy" this bill was supposed to be failing on? I felt that we were actually pretty clear on this in the manifesto when we almost doubled our seats at the last election.

Implement in full the recommendations of the
O’Shea Review into the operation of the Health
(Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act
2018, including removing the three-day waiting
period for access to abortion services,
improving access to services in underserved
regions, and improve the information
available.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I have to give it to the Irish Government's handling of the fuel protests - they have done a great job absolutely infuriating the country by not actually doing anything. No follow-through on threats, no follow-through on claims of dialogue with protesters, & now somehow expecting this to fool folk;

Irish Times - "Farming and haulage groups have been told this afternoon the Government does have a package of supports ready, but it will not be announced until the blockade is lifted. — Ellen Coyne, Political Correspondent"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

I know, the Irish Times deliberately courting sensationalism as part of their commercial strategy would be a bit hard to belie...

Ad for the Irish times with a cartoon bomb, saying "EXPECT OPINIONS THAT MAY SET YOU OFF - The Irish Times - Students Get IT Free"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Not shown on the graph, but fwiw the Greens are up to 4%, a 1% increase from the previous poll.

SF - 22%, up 2% from previous poll.
FG - 17%, down 1% from previous poll.
Social Democrats - 11%, up 1% from previous poll.
FF - 18%, (no change)
Aontú - 6%
Independent Ireland - 5%, down 1%.
Labour Party - 4%, no change.
Solidarity-PBP - 3%, down 1%.
Independents/Others - 11%, unchanged

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

...it is kinda baffling to read that entire artocle interviewing them, and then near the end take a pot at the younger generations for being "arrogant", with no self-awareness.

Article from the Indo interviewing Fergus Finlay and Terry Prone - 'Do they have hopes for the younger generations coming up behind the “greatest” one?

“They must be very daunted at what lies ahead of them,” Finlay begins. “So were we, and we were less educated, less skilled, less talented, less able. I’ve never met a generation that is as confident, as able, as bright, as talented as this crowd. Now some of them are also bumptious, arrogant, noisy and loud.”'

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

www.thejournal.ie/patrick-odon... ...how is it strange? It's pointing out how strange it is that you were all gung ho for age verification not to long ago - any concerns be damned - to squirming away from any straightforward condemnation or action against a CSAM factory operating in this country.

From the Journal.ie on 13th January 2026 - Asked this afternoon if the Government would consider banning X, Minister [Patrick] O’Donovan said that would be an issue that would need to be discussed at EU level.

“I’ve already said that the second half of the year, during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council [of the EU], will be devoted to protection of the child online.

“And it’s a bit strange that a lot of people that were criticising me last week with regard to some of my comments, albeit taken out of context, were the same people that were also criticising the fact that we were looking to bring in age verification.”

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bb... So, would Norway's response be classified as such, then? Seems pretty straightforward compared to the garbled mess of Starmer's statement.

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said "international law is universal and binding for all states.

"The American intervention in Venezuela is not in accordance with international law."

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

I am ashamed to confess immeasurable disappointment when I glanced at the name of this coffee chain in Guangzhou and realised that I had mistaken the "L" as an "F".

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

I can't celebrate the inauguration of my President Catherine Connolly with my usual Bulmers today, sadly, but this Chinese apple cider vinegar drink will have to do. 😤

"Apple vinegar beverage" in a green can.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Came across the first Popeyes in my life just there - granted, this *is* at an airport, but I did not have the impression that Popeyes was some sort of premium restaurant chain, because this is making Dublin look downright reasonable.

Order screen for Popeyes at an airport with "popular products" - a "Maxi XL menu" meal costs €24.50, and a "Maxi Popchicken menu" meal costs €23.50.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Almost forgot I wrote this letter responding to Fergus Finlay. I wouldn't have picked that title myself, but I do think it is a bit of a slippery slope to argue that a threshold sufficient for Michael D. Higgins or FFG is not sufficient for Catherine Connolly. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/your...

"Once elected, who cares by how much?"

Fergus Finlay argues that Catherine Connolly’s democratic mandate is somehow weakened because if “you divide her vote arithmetically by the size of the electorate, the answer is 25.29%”.

It strikes me as a strange argument, since I recalled Michael D Higgins winning his re-election in 2018 on an even lower turnout than this year — with support from “only” 24.18% of the total electorate.

Yet I do not recall Finlay being so concerned that Higgins had to feel obliged to “prove” he was an inclusive president.

And if we want to continue this game further — 25.29% is also the proportion of the electorate Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael won in the general election last year, and it does not break past 27.5% even when you add in the nine pro-government Independents.

No serious commentator would argue that a government should be concerned about being elected on such a share of the electorate, so I’m not sure why the presidency should be any different.

Tomás Creamer, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Harris would be on stronger grounds to claim he is treating the subject of migration sensitively if he also didn't fail to conflate aslyum seekers with migration in general. Like, yes, it is a "point of consideration" elsewhere, yet you haven't learnt anything! www.thejournal.ie/simon-harris...

Extract from Journal.ie article, with quotes from Simon Harris;

“Migration is a legitimate public policy point of consideration in our country and across the European Union.”

He said the fact that 80% of asylum applications are rejected in Ireland were what led him to believe migration numbers are too high, and said that fact “should raise a red flag for government”.

He also said that general migration figures, separate from asylum applications, are also “too high”.

“We can continue to go around and put fingers in ears and not listen to people if we want, but we can actually do what political leaders do – engage on topics.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

I mean, there is the National Party (and a few other equally mad ones) and Independent Ireland seems to be trying to fill that space, but maybe the latter isn't yet explictly racist enough for the racists, while the National Party is just too openly racist. Basically, as per the dril tweet;

wint @dril -
turning a big dial taht says "Racism" on it and constantly looking back at the audience for approval like a contestant on the price is right
6:03 AM · Mar 15, 2017

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Not that I have not made it blatantly obvious, but I am voting for Catherine Connolly tommorrow. For a candidate with the legal and language skills perfect for the role of scrutinising legislation in need of constitutional review.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Also, if you don't believe the "raadical left", here is the literal Fianna Fáil Minister for Justice saying precisely the same thing:

Tweet from Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly), quoting Jim O'Callaghan;
"💬 Jim O’Callaghan:

“I've noticed in recent years from all sides of the political spectrum, criticism being directed at lawyers because of the clients who they represent. I don't think it's correct or fair to criticise lawyers because of the actions you [took] in the past…

“I think it's important that we all realise that for the administration and justice to operate effectively in Ireland, there has to be parties represented by lawyers, no matter how unpopular or how unvirtuous those clients may be.”"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Precisely what Rory Hearne TD proposed

Reacting to the news, Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said the idea that a company that could provide hundreds of homes a year was set to close because of a “lack of orders” was shocking.

He appealed to the Government to use the Land Development Agency and “step in and buy the factory” so that it could be kept open to deliver homes.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

My earlier tweet about Catherine Connolly hiring a former prisoner, in the form of a letter to the Indo. m.independent.ie/opinion/lett...

Title: "Ní Shionnáin served her sentence - surely she is allowed to rebuild her life?"

I want to clarify something – is it the view of the Taoiseach, and of commentators, that former prisoners should be denied opportunities to rebuild their lives away from violence or criminality, even after they have served their sentence?

Given her qualifications, Ursula Ní Shionnáin was perfectly suited for the role of administrative support for a TD working on the Oireachtas Committee for the Irish language, and Catherine Connolly was in the right to give her a chance.

I think it is much more concerning if our Government thinks that prisoners such as Ní Shionnáin should not be given the opportunity to rehabilitate when they demonstrate a willingness to do so.

As a former employee of the Irish Prison Service, that seems to go against everything that I was told during my training.

Tomás M Creamer, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim

Published 4th October, 2025, on the letter section of the Irish Indepedent.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Thank Christ, Leitrim decided to dodge that bullet!😅

Tweet from "Ireland Votes" - "BREAKING:

Leitrim County Council votes not to nominate Maria Steen as a Presidential candidate

9-7 against the nomination.

Yes: 5 FF & 2 IND
No: 4 SF, 3 FG, 1 FF, 1 IND"

Published at 2:38 PM · Sep 22, 2025

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Granted, I don't discount the idea that Twitter is so broken that the search function isn't working properly, but the nearest result I got with Harris was a reply to this tweet claiming he never said anything about Melissa Hortman either.

Tweet from Simon Harris, published at 6:39am on 11th September, 2025 - "The killing of Charlie Kirk in Utah is appalling and shocking.

Young children have lost a father and a wife has lost her husband needlessly.

Such despicable acts of violence are utterly abhorrent."

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Genuine question - did our Taoiseach post anything similar when Melissa Hortman, an actual US elected official, was assassinated a few months ago?

Micheál Martin, tweeting at 7:34am on September 11th 2025 - "My thoughts and prayers go to the family and loved ones of Charlie Kirk after his horrific murder in Utah. We think especially of his wife and young children today.

There is no place for the gun in politics, no justification for violence in democratic debate."

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

I read this article (via "means"). Apparently "for most Israelis, overseas travel is not considered a luxury but a basic necessity", since "life in Israel can feel like a pressure cooker"...call me uncharitable, but it is quite staggering when you consider the situation for Palestinians.

Article written by Judy Maltz from Haaretz, published 11st August 2025: "For Israelis travelling abroad this summer, a big question: do we say where we are from?"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

This is the ideal summer weather. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

A weather forecast for Dublin for the next week, with daytime temperatures maxxing out at 20 or 21 degrees, with a couple of wet days and nights predicted for later next week.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Honestly, my own fault for checking Facebook and excepting anything better, but there are plenty of folk making comments underneath this that deserve to get in the sack* honestly. Completely disgusting racism directed at a student in the midst of a genocide the UK are actively facilitating

Facebook post from The Telegraph newspaper - "Malak Hani graduated from school in Gaza with the second highest grade of any student in the Palestinian territories.

The 19-year-old received a full scholarship to the University of Cambridge this year.

But months later, she remains trapped in the rubble of Gaza and tangled inside a web of British bureaucracy.

Read her story ⬇️
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/19/oxbridge-scholarship-students-trapped-in-gaza/"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

For context - this was the definition in the Examiner article. That "Out of Hours" bit was a later section where they seemed to just be taking the oppertunity to go off on one about Gen Z feeling "entitled", which is what makes me suspicious about this concept. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...

At the weekend, I read an article in The New York Times about ‘the Gen Z stare’ with a sense of recognition. The Gen Z stare is when a Zoomer is asked a question in a public setting, and instead of answering verbally, they deliver a passive-aggressive stare.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

In case anyone thinks I am exaggerating - I'm literally describing an Irish Examiner article that does this.

More generally, I have discussed new workplace behaviours with various friends who are employers or senior managers in different walks of life, ranging from blue-chip corporate echelons to small businesses. The broad consensus is that there is a lack of understanding of how to behave in a professional context, and a marked interest in what works best for Gen Z employees.

To take just one example, a refusal to take messages or calls outside of strictly defined working hours. So, if you forget to ask your junior employee a question before 6pm because your head is over a document, it will have to wait until the next day. Two minutes past six is too late, loser.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

I mean, Bill Clinton of all people has essentially endorse Mamdani for the general, so it would be quite a turn if he suddenly decided to endorse Adams or something.

Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) - "Congratulations
@ZohranKMamdani
on your victory in yesterday’s primary election and a well-run campaign. I’m wishing you much success in November and beyond as you work to bring New Yorkers together to tackle the city’s challenges and shape a stronger, fairer future."
7:14 PM · Jun 25, 2025

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

...where do I even begin with this? Literally how would lifting the rent cap affect the budget in any material sense? Why is that even included?

Tweet by X: "Why are these the only choices in the Sunday Independent opinion poll to this question? Why is there no option for a new income tax band on top earners? Or a new specific wealth tax, not inheritance?"

Polling question: If the Government is faced with makimg hard choices in the budget given financial concerns, which of the followimg wpuld you agree with? Select all that would apply:
- Introducing Water Charges
- Lifting the Rent Cap
- Raising the USC
- Raising Inheritance tax
- None of the above

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

There is also a history Gript has with encouraging harrassment as well.

Tweet from Soc Dem Cllr Elisa O'Donovan - "I blocked Gript Media in 2021 following a series of “stories” about me that created relentless harassment and incitement of violence towards me. Full support and solidarity with
@RuthCoppingerSP
for standing firm against these extremist media outlets that cause serious harm to the people their followers stalk and harass 😢"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

I do check up on the bad place on ocassion, and the response to Ruth Coppinger refusing to engage with Gript basically confirms that I was right to leave, because the discourse there would drive me mad.

Ruth Coppinger Quote Tweets Conor Lally of the Irish Times - "‘Editorial line’ - wow. And the irony of ‘diverse’ when Gript post stories against diversity & that are endangering people of colour, LGBTQI.

I’ve already had threats to me since y’day thanks to journalists backing up this totally normal media outlet."

Conor Lally's original tweet - "Not every publication's editorial line will tally with our own personal views
But the media should be diverse.
Gript has a right to ask questions, including on immigration. Respectfully, thinking otherwise is a slippery slope."

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

www.avenuecalgary.com/City-Life/Pe...

Avenue Magazine Calgary - "Gerson has never harboured any hope to change the world and rejects the J-school aphorism that the purpose of journalism is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. “That is an activist model,” she said. “If you’ve accepted that, then you’ve accepted your role in journalism as an activist, and as a left-leaning activist whose job it is to shit on the rich.” Gerson said she worries that too many journalists consider challenging power to be a more important goal than simply telling truthful stories. “That being said, I’m perfectly happy to take out the powerful when I think they deserve it. I’m thrilled. I’ll take your head and I’ll put it on a wall if you deserve it,” then she added, “I’m really nice. I’m just very disagreeable.”"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Honestly, this is essentially just the same anti-Asylum Seeker racism we've seen elsewhere, dressed up in white collar, upper-middle-class clothing.

Irish Independent headline (Sunday 20th April 2025) - "'It's like I've won the lottery, my house would be of no value' - resident's relief aa landmark Dublin 4 hotel won't house Asylum Seekers"

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Among all these sweeping tariffs, there is something weird about how Trump has literally imposed a harsher economic sanction against Israel (a 17% tariff) than literally any other Western nation recently, and he seems to have done it purely by accident.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

OK, you know what, I think this alone is single-handedly enough to make me kinda like Verona Murphy as Ceann Comhairle.🤣

Snippet from Irish Independent from earlier today - "The Taoiseach has been told to “stop behaving like a child” by the Ceann Comhairle, following a series of interruptions in the Dáil."

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

How long until Peadar Tóibín gives out about the weather warning being "over the top"?

Met Éireann - A gust of 183km/h has been recorded at Mace Head Co. Galway at 5am. This is ptovisionally the strongest gust speed ever recorded in Ireland.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Speed limits in rural Ireland are a bit of a joke at times.

80 km/h speed limit sign on a rural road with grass growing in the middle, and which is literally only wide enough for one car.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Hi Simon - can you clarify in relation to the witness requirement; can this witness literally just be anyone, or does it need to be some kind of notary or something?

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

The next 5 years in the life of Paul Gogarty in the Dáil;

Simpsons meme - in Barts classroom, the students and teachers crowd around Bart/Gogarthy, telling him to "say the line, Gogarthy!". Gogarty responds, responding reluctantly "Fuck you, Deputy Stagg!!", to cheers from the classroom.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

"So, Thomas, what's your prediction for the Irish #GE24?" Well, it could go something like this;

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

A column recently recommended that other parties should follow the lead of the Greens in Govt. However, unlike the Greens, for the Soc Dems a radical change to housing, health, Childcare & Disabilities are not "extras" to be sacrificed, but as much a red line for us as climate action is.

Headline; No single party can focus solely on one issue, society is far too complex for that.
There is a problem with Colin Murphy’s suggestion that left-wing parties entering government negotiations should follow the Green Party’s “precision of focus” model (‘Can a Green, Labour and Soc Dem pact change Irish politics?’, Sunday Independent, November 24).

For the Green Party, the policies to prioritise are obvious: public transport and the reduction of carbon emissions. Its policies such as housing, healthcare and education are just optional extras, which it is perfectly willing to concede on.

For the Social Democrats, Sláintecare, a public childcare model, a senior minister for disabilities and the proper provision of 50,000 affordable homes are not optional extras we would sacrifice merely to oblige the Government to take the necessary climate actions to avoid billions of euro of fines from the EU.

Every one of those policy areas are red-line areas for us.

The problems we face as a society are multi-faceted, and it is not enough to just tinker around the edges in one specific area; we need a completely different approach to that taken by Fine Gael-led governments since 2011. To do anything less would be to betray all those for whom the current status quo is no longer tolerable.

Thomas Creamer, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Well, we do have an indicator from polling - the main beneficiaries (aside from other SF candidates) are S-PBP and the Soc Dems. And note - in almost every constituency, the Soc Dems will likely outpoll the given PBP candidate, given the current polling.

SF number 1's give 37% of their number 2 preferences to themselves, 15% to S-PBP, 10% to Soc Dems, 4% to Labour, and a negligable amount to Greens.

PBP voters give 45% of their transfers to SF, and 23% to Soc Dems.

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

I am really grateful that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have just come out and made it clear that they would much rather to have Labour in the Dáil than they would the Social Democrats. So if you want to make their life harder - a Soc Dem vote will annoy them a lot more m.independent.ie/irish-news/e...

Independent article extract - "And if not Independents or Greens, then who?

The thinking within Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has turned to the Labour Party. There is an expectation it will gain seats as the public have “forgiven” the party for its mistakes during its last stint in government.

Former leader Alan Kelly very clearly laid out in the Nenagh Guardian that he wanted to be around the cabinet table, and this pricked Fine Gael’s ears.

The party is particularly keen on Labour as the two have similar values and would in turn have more sway over Fianna Fáil."

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Thomas Creamer @thomascreamer.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Hi, poster expert* here - This is not funny, politicial parties only do this when they are in extreme distress. (*disclaimer - not an actual expert)

Mark Ward TD posts a tweet containing a photograph of his own poster on a lamp post above that of a FG poster that is upside down. The text says "Privatisation does not work!

We are blessed in Dublin Mid West to have a great team of Sinn Féin activists to put up our posters

Other parties use private companies.

The results speak for themselves"

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