Comments by "Taint ABird" (@taintabird23) on "euronews" channel.

  1. @ Mark Chesters Australia and Canada are quite different to Ireland: both experienced inward migration, while Ireland experience net emigration until recently; both have vast natural resources. Ireland became fully independent in 1921 and yet found itself still dependent on the UK economically. Membership of the EU has resulted in Ireland being able to modernise its economy and diversify its markets. All members of the EU are equal decision makers - that has certainly been the Irish experience. It is quite different to the relationship the Irish had when part of the UK. All members of the EU pool elements of their sovereignty in order to amplify that sovereignty. They share it in order to maximise their abilities to get good trade deals they would not be able to get if they went it alone. It is done to enhance prosperity. In 1973 the average Irish income was about 2/3 of what it was in the UK. Today it is almost double. It would be a mistake to assume that Irish people suffer from the same insecurities around identity and attitudes to the EU as you find among the English. The Irish are comfortable with their place in the world and are confident in their national identity and culture. Leo Varadkar merely reflects the fact that 92% of Irish people support EU membership and that 94% voted to support the Good Friday Agreement. The opposition parties all support him in relation to the his governments stand.
    2
  2. It is difficult to see how Ireland's economy will collapse when only 11% of Irish exports go to the UK. The EU is negotiating in good faith, but it also has a responsibility to protect its members.
    2
  3.  @brutallyhonest9140  Yes, that is precisely it. Your neighbours are as distant to you now as all of those countries. Is that not what you voted for?
    2
  4. I was just wondering what was democratic about the referendum which is taking you out of the EU.
    2
  5. Yes, so what was democratic about the referendum on leaving the EU? It's a simple question.
    2
  6. How am I going around in circles? I'm asking a question you don't understand and/or can't answer. If you cannot tell me how the Brexit referendum was democratic, then how can you believe in it? Happy William Shakespeare's birthday.
    2
  7. What was democratic about the referendum? Its a simple question, its not rocket science.
    2
  8. @ Archie Andrews Odd isn't it. Such warnings of dire consequences the UK are ignored as project fear and yet the consequences for everyone else are believed by Brexiters.
    2
  9. Up to 1st January, there was frictionless trade. Now there is paperwork, potential for delays at Dover, COVID-19 lockdowns with the French, and a British government that has shown the potential to use Ireland as a bargaining chip with the EU. That makes it feasible, and in Ireland's strategic national interest.
    2
  10. Looks like that's going to happen anyway.
    2
  11. @ToonandBBfan and Rory Good We all need each other. In this world were are all interdependent.
    2
  12. What? You mean like trying to leave the EU without a plan?? You think they can beat that, do ya??
    2
  13. No he didn't.
    2
  14. There are new 'Brexit Buster' ferries available for the Dublin-Rotterdam route, everyone is just waiting to see how things work out first.
    2
  15. Really? You only want ferry ports with the Ireland if it agrees that the UK is the mainland? And you have a vote in your country? LMAO! No wonder the UK is such a laughing stock across the world right now.
    2
  16. @ Cliff Smith What 'ludicrous conclusion'?!?! You concluded that because Britain is not Ireland's mainland the 'ludicrous conclusion' is that ferries from Britain to Ireland should be stopped? You need to explain yourself. The UK is leaving the EU and clearly wants to have less to do with its neighbours. The Irish are less insecure about themselves and are quite happy to maintain the status quo. It is not the Irish who are changing the status quo, is it?
    2
  17.  @robertwhite3059  I would if you could export it.
    2
  18.  @robertwhite3059  London's financial trading is slowly shifting to New York, Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid.
    2
  19. Under the GFA, your you can be Irish, British or both. According to the Home Office, everyone born in NI is automatically British and they have to claim their Irish identity. This is because the British have never passed the legislation to recognise this element of the Good Friday Agreement. In this regard, the issue of identity, under international treaty the people of NI can have their cake and eat it.
    2
  20. I don't think the British are in a position to accuse others of having useless politicians.
    2
  21. It will increase to 30 sailings per week on the Rosslare-Dunkirk route.
    2
  22. On the contrary. The Irish are commemorating, not celebrating, their independence from the UK. The value of that struggle a century ago is that today it continues to pool its sovereignty with other small nations for the benefit for its citizens. The English have voted to horde their sovereignty in an ivory tower. That will solve none of the problems that led to Brexit.
    2
  23. Which is your favourite example of the EU breaking international law?
    2
  24. Ireland and the border issue is about to be used by BoJo to hold Ireland hostage in order to get something off the EU. It will fail. The only hope for Ireland's economy is to stay with the EU as Ireland never prospered under the shadow of a selfish England with notions about itself.
    2
  25. The entire approach of the EU has worked so far.
    2
  26.  @sportysixfifty5040  What is the third world now? The UK?
    2
  27.  @genghisthegreat2034  Ha! I get it.
    2
  28. @Fantômas 13 This is true.
    2
  29.  @stevedarby3470  Tell that to businesses in Fishguard and Holyhead.
    2
  30. MrCoffeeparty Dire consequences were predicted when the African slave trade was was abolished too.
    1
  31. omglabel Yeah, but its too narrow a view in my opinion.  There are plenty of atheists with similar views and if we get into religion bashing we're no better that the zealots and fundamentalists.  Religion is fine, but it should be a private matter.
    1
  32. omglabel I doubt it.
    1
  33. MrCoffeeparty I doubt that too.
    1
  34. What a stupid comment and ill-informed comment.
    1
  35. Only 8% of the Irish population support leaving the EU.
    1
  36.  @fuzzyspackage  It is quite clear that the UK was the one that signed the deal without reading it. It was deliberate, so that Johnson could win his election. If they did read it, they signed it without intending to implement it.
    1
  37.  @christophersangster4295  What?
    1
  38. @Alex Rigden Really? You know there is extra paperwork on that route now, which Irish supploers dont want to engage in, right?
    1
  39. @Alex RigdenI would sugeest those in the export business know better as regards export red tape, ask a British fisherman at the moment. Soon it wil be everyone's problem...
    1
  40. @Alex Rigden If you are planning to fly fish out to the Far East, why is Rees Mogg telling British fishermen that they should be happy that the fish are British? There is no mention of 'cheap jumbos' from him. All American duties placed on European goods by Trump will be removed by Biden, you can be sure of that. He wants a closer relationship with the EU and supports the notion of multi-lateralism.
    1
  41. @Alex Rigden Your fishing industry is on its knees. Where is the sunlit uplands for British fishermen?
    1
  42. @ Nigel Johnson The UK was a mess when it joined the EEC in 1973, and even needed a bail out in 1976. The UK is a mess because of decades of appalling domestic governance and for some reason it is the EU that is getting rap for it. When are the English going to grow up and admit they have failed themselves?
    1
  43. @ Nigel Johnson The UK was always a net contributor because it did not claim back enough of the cash FOR ITS OWN PEOPLE. Some of the most economically deprived places in the whole of Europe are in the UK, and yet UK governments and local authorities never drew down funds available to help communities that were left behind. Had you done so then you would not have been net contributors with a sense of victimhood about it. You failed yourselves.
    1
  44.  @JK-ux9du  Please support your assertion in relation to my comments.
    1
  45. None. The convention in the English language is to call nearly all national heads of government "prime minister" (sometimes the equivalent term "premier") except in the cases where the head of state and head of government are fused into one position, usually a presidency, regardless of the correct title of the head of government as applied in his or her respective country. The few exceptions to the rule are Germany and Austria, whose heads of government titles are almost always translated as Chancellor; Monaco, whose head of government is referred to as the Minister of State; and Vatican City, for which the head of government is titled the Secretary of State. In the case of Ireland, the head of government is occasionally referred to as the Taoiseach by English speakers.
    1
  46. I'm Irish, and its not about a united Ireland - now is not the time or the circumstance for that - south of the border we want no changes to the status quo. Leaving things as they will put a united Ireland off for another couple of generations, Brexit will bring it subject to the fore much sooner...
    1
  47.  @tomhulme1176  Nobody in Ireland voted for any changes, so Ireland will not support them.
    1
  48. They will make the decision, but they will do so having consulted Ireland. They have consulted Ireland at every stage and Ireland has the unflinching support of the Commission and the 26 members states. As it happens, it is a plain as day that the current proposals put forward today are unworkable in a broader EU context. Ireland is sovereign. Being a small country with the ability to stand up to a larger nation which is used to throwing its weight around is what happens when you pool sovereignty with 26 other nations. Its the first time Ireland has been able to do that in 800 years.
    1
  49. With respect Tom, what is obvious to a Brexit is usually determined by or relative to, the extent of their knowledge. The EU and Ireland are on record as saying that there will be no hard border in Ireland until such time as the UK diverges from EU standards. On 1st November the UK will still need a deal with the EU. The border, money, freedom of movement etc will be all on the agenda in Brussels once again. The realities of Brexit will help focus minds in the UK.
    1
  50. That's wonderful Tom, but the rest of Europe is happy with the EU. Nobody requires liberation from it. Support for EU membership has hardened across the bloc with anti-EU parties rejecting a national 'exit' in favour of reform of the union. This is entirely down to the farce in your country. Misery loves company, but nobody else will be following the UK out. It is very obvious that Brexit has been embraced with all the fervour of a religious belief by those who adhere to it. You can't actually have a rational discussion about Brexit with a Leaver because reason has nothing to do with it - its all emotional. People don't make good decisions when they are based on emotion. Brexit as an idea is not coherent and ultimately not sustainable. It has exposed the divisions within England and within the broader UK, the democratic deficits you all put up with, its inequalities and diverging identities. Brexit will not solve these issues and is an exercise in displacement - the English are leaving the wrong union. It will be interesting to see how many will continue to support Brexit when the UK leaves and its realities are apparent. It will be interesting to see how the Scottish react, in the knowledge that their aspirations are forever to be over ruled by an English people with different values. What we are witnessing is not the UK becoming 'independent' - we're witnessing the slow break up of the UK.
    1