Níl sé seo ach mo thuairim féin. These are my personal opinions
Dublin City, Ireland
Joined May 2009
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I am so glad to see my lived experience being formally recognised. My new NGO “Right2BWrong” has lodged for €2m of state funding to promote advocacy and awareness of this important issue.
A great articulation of what centre right policies are and are not
Marking an end to the woke era in Fine Gael should mean clearly separating what stays and what goes. I can't speak for everyone who supports the center-right motion, but you won't find many FG members nowadays who don't agree it was right to pass:
✅ The gay marriage referendum
✅ Repeal the 8th
There is also progress that FG members see in the right direction:
✅ Asylum numbers and accommodation costs falling
✅ Full employment
✅ Growing capital spending
✅ Income Tax bands moving higher
✅ Personal Investment Accounts
The "centre" in "centre-right" means a party still open to ideas that reach the centre of Irish politics from either side. Raising the minimum wage is a traditionally left idea, but we have done it countless times. It becomes even more essential in an era of inflation, so the lowest paid workers aren't left behind.
The "progressive centre" era has too many hallmarks I want left behind. Again, I can't claim all supporters of the motion agree, but I offer them as my own:
❌ Growing real current spending at unsustainable rates
❌ Family and Care referendums
❌ Hate speech bill
❌ Non-EU workers now accounting for the majority of job additions
❌ Gender quotas in all areas of life
❌ Transgender rights to the detriment of biological sex
❌ Siding with Gaza flotillas ("act of courage") and the Ulm 5
❌ The 3-day wait, safe access zones and surrogacy
❌ Don't hug your granny and the "tradwives" campaign to come in 2027
The centre-right motion is about where the party goes from here. It's about seeing more fruitful and sensible ideas from the right of politics, with its focus on preserving institutions and ideas that have stood the test of time.
A revival of Christian Democratic thinking should mean FG reviving its core principles:
👩👩👧👦 The family and communities as a core unit of society
💪 Personal responsibility
⤵️ Subsidiarity - Placing a renewed focus on political decisions taking place as local as is possible and practical. A credible plan for a United Ireland must consider decentralisation.
💼 Enterprise as the engine of all shared wealth. This is something Fine Gael already does well but must not be overlooked either. Gay Mitchell, former MEP for Dublin, said it best in my earliest days of canvassing for the party. He believed in "rights, responsibilities, social justice and enterprise".
A strong centre-right is needed to push back far-right movements that are gaining pace elsewhere in Europe. It's about an injection of common sense into how the party formulates policy going forward.
This is the real danger. I spoke to a father recently with a child in the local Educate Together who said 60% of the kids in the class now getting some disability label by teachers.
Sinn Fein involved in criminality?? Surely not
How is this scandal not the biggest Irish political news story? At best O'Snodaigh was negligent in his position leading a charity. At worst this is pretty high level criminality.
Closing down the organisation doesn't remove responsibility from a TD.
irishexaminer.com/news/arid-…
Centre right is a good place to be in Irish politics: lots of voters and no political party to serve them, unlike the crowded centre-far left
It's time to mark an end to the woke era. Speaking to the @IrishTimes earlier this evening.
Fine Gael grassroots seek ardfheis motion to confirm ‘centre right’ status
irishtimes.com/politics/2026…
Problem is also gvt getting more involved in people’s lives. If gvt pared back to focus on what it should be doing and said to people “not gvt’s job” more, people would be happier. Eg the clamour for mental health support. It’s not the gvt’s job to make you happy or less anxious
Janan Ganesh: instant gratification by capitalism drives frustration with government ft.com/content/891b2fc6-d2ee…
Maybe people are moderate centre right like me and see the very left wing options among the mainstream parties as unappealing.
A growing volume of voters who don’t like the government are drifting to the populist right instead, creating a new front in Ireland’s political fragmentation.
businesspost.ie/politics/red…
Correct. Moving tax bands from 44-46.5k still leaves middle income people paying 47%. That’s not a tax cut. It’s inflation adjusting
As predicted, Budget largesse didn't move the electoral dial. Again.
Maybe government should try an actual tax cut next year. It's been more than two decades since a government has significantly cut personal taxes.
Then abolish USC in the pre-election budget. The evidence says that chunky tax cuts close to elections do affect outcomes.
“What is needed is the systematic dismantling of the policy and advocacy functions of these taxpayer-funded groups.” The far left is the problem. independent.ie/comment/eoin-…
I spoke to a landlord in Ireland saying similar. Will not rent to middle aged Irish as they will never leave vs a young migrant, even though in the past they would have preferred with low vacancy. Also leaving flats vacant rather than unable to ever sell without tenant in situ.
Berlin socialist gvt is forcing private landlords to sell to the state at 40% below value. There will be no more private rental devmt in Berlin and housing supply will contract more. Socialism is stupid. ft.com/content/57e5b584-78b8… via @ft
Fantastic news
Some good news! The first know #Osprey to be born in #Donegal in over 150 years fledged this Summer to untagged, unringed parents who have been migrating to the County for over 5 years so are not part of any reintroduction programme. Isn't she beautiful?
ALT The first known #Osprey to be born in #Donegal, Ireland in over 150 years.
“It is not the function of the state to preach to families”
In the Seanad this morning I expressed my shock at the state subsidised advertisment in relation to grandparents and not hugging their grandchildren youtu.be/Y6zaRc-qftg
The Irish Government is introducing new legislation on finger assault of minors. Formerly known as tickling your children, this abhorrent practice needs to be stamped out.
This is what happens when you have a far left government. They are taxing teachers and gardai at 47% marginal rate to pay for this
Latent demand = build it and they will come
Monday morning on Kill Avenue, Dún Laoghaire, along the DLR Central cycle route. Kids heading to school and commuters heading to work.
Modal shift in action, made possible by safer cycling infrastructure.
#ActiveTravel #StreetsForPeople #SafeRoutesToSchool #Dublin
The government has put the Living Wage on the long-finger due to concerns that it's putting too many businesses under too much pressure. Ok. But what is it's policy now when it comes to helping out people who work hard for low-pay? IMO - there are plenty of options but having no serious policy at all should not be one of them. All in The Sunday Times :-
thetimes.com/world/ireland-w…
Leo the Soc Dem writes an article about increasing min wage. He never once mentions that the way to increase wages in low paid jobs is to increase productivity through automation and skills. No- it’s all about gvt regulating to force businesses to increase wages.
The government has put the Living Wage on the long-finger due to concerns that it's putting too many businesses under too much pressure. Ok. But what is it's policy now when it comes to helping out people who work hard for low-pay? IMO - there are plenty of options but having no serious policy at all should not be one of them. All in The Sunday Times :-
thetimes.com/world/ireland-w…
Ugh. More toxic femininity. Women are just as culpable in climate change as men. Making women rhe victim all the time is the opposite of feminism.
Mary Robinson says ‘climate change is a man-made problem that requires a feminist solution’ buff.ly/kXOrBl2
