'Micheal Martin's government are the greatest bunch ever elected'

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

The current Government is fast becoming the greatest bunch of ditherers that this country ever elected to office.
They move at such a slow pace that they make a snail look fast. The Taoiseach Micheal Martin and most of his ministers are stuck in a time warp of indecision that is disastrous for this country.
Take the passenger cap at Dublin Airport - the biggest joke if ever there was one. A local County Council, Fingal, and its planners are being allowed to dictate national aviation policy that threatens to be extremely damaging for this island.
This country needs more visitors, more tourists, more income to keep people in jobs.
Yet what was the point in building a new second runway at Dublin Airport if you want to cap the passenger numbers at 32million a year. The whole issue is ridiculous.
Remember the airport was there before almost everyone living around the airfield but yet a handful of these residents are complaining about the noise and trying to hold the whole country to ransom.
Why didn't they buy houses elsewhere if they were worried about planes coming and going.
Both Micheal Martin, the Tánaiste Simon Harris and the current Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien said they would fix it and here we are seven months down the road and it still hasn't been done.
All it would take is a law passed in the Dail to ban any passenger cap at Dublin Airport and free it up for passenger growth.
But yet the State in typical civil service fashion hides behind the courts and kicks the can down the road with no new law brought in.
A load of US Airlines are waiting to expand their services into Ireland but won't do so until the passenger cap issue is resolved.
Dublin Airport has the potential and capacity to grow to 60 million passengers a year if it is not burdened by ridiculous red tape.
Michael O'Leary was right yesterday when he said the current Government needs to get the finger out of their backsides and make some decisions.
He also rightly pointed out despite all the billions spent why wasn't the new National Children's Hospital opened yet.
It seems to me that the Sir Humprey's of this world in the civil service are making all the big calls for this country and our current crop of ministers are out of their debt.
Both Darragh O'Brien and the new Housing Minister James Brown do not seem to have a clue what the hell they are doing.
I was expecting big things from Micheal Martin on his return to the Taoiseach's Office but whatever is going on he appears a bit like the Cork team in the second half of the All Ireland Hurling Final yesterday he seems stuck in a daze .
He needs to rediscover his form, find his bloody A game and start getting things done fast and furious in this country.
Later today the Government in the form of the Finance Minister Paschal Donohue and the Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers will announce a €200billion, 10 year National Development Plan.
It all seems fine and dandy and we all know we need to invest in energy, water, housing, schools and transport infrastructure.
You will hear about all these projects to be constructed but what I want to know is the exact timeline? When will each start and be complete? Are all of these big projects all going to take 10 years to build like the National Children's Hospital with massive cost overruns.
Who in Government will actually police these investments to ensure that the taxpayer and the State are not ripped off.
Talk is cheap and what the people want to see is action not words. We want a precise date for each project to be finished.
Irish voters are sick and tired of politicians making promises and not delivering. They are sick and tired watching their country being ripped off. They are sick and tired of the politicians not having their back.
They want to see investment, they want to see better services but they also want to see Government competence and common sense.
Michael O'Leary said yesterday his greatest team in Ryanair is the team who keeps his costs down so he can offer cheaper airline tickets.
We don't seem to have any team in Government who can keep Ireland's costs down.
Instead our civil servants will just write whatever cheque is needed and so what if there are cost overruns. The National Children's Hospital is proof of this.
This country does not have an endless pit of money and the sooner our Government starts managing it properly the better.
Time for Micheal Martin and his Cabinet to wake up and start getting things done. Prison overcrowding
The overcrowding crisis in our jails appears to have caught the Government completely on the hop.
There has been a huge rise in the number of people convicted and sent to prison especially for sex offences.
The Gardai and the legal profession knew this was coming down the tracks for the last few years, yet our Dept of Justice was asleep at the wheel.
I feel sorry for the Irish Prison Service because they can't turn away any prisoner. Now they may have to house inmates in prison gyms because they have no room, and no new prisons were built.
The other downside is many prisoners are being freed early to make room for others. Mountjoy Prison, Dublin What a joke!
I have to laugh at the Presidential Race. One minute no one was running but now there is a queue of people who would love to live in the Aras.
I see our former chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan is thinking of throwing his hat in the ring.
If he does run he will not be getting my vote. I will never forget that this country endured the longest Covid lockdowns in Europe because of him and his mecial friends.
I don't believe he did a good job but others disagree. Dr Tony Holohan. (Image: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos Dublin) Cork are no chokers
The final whistle was only over in Croke Park and the losing Cork team were being branded a bunch of chokers like Mayo. Social media is a very harsh and cruel place at times.
I don't think you can compare them. Cork haven't won a hurling final in 20 years while Mayo are waiting almost 70 years to bring Sam Maguire back out to the west.
For the second year in a row red hot favourites Cork had a bad day at the office, and that doesn't mean they are a bad team.
The Tipp lads to their credit had nothing to lose, were under no pressure, and played for fun. They were outstanding in the second half.
This Cork team are no chokers and will be back. Sometimes you have to lose a few before you win one.
Hurling is without doubt the greatest game in the world. Tipperary captain Ronan Maher. (Image: Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Bryan Keane) Weather is all over the place
July has been a really funny month weather wise. One day the sun is shining, the next few days are raining, then it is dry and cloudy, I really don't know what to expect.
We have umbrellas, swimming towels, boots, and coats in the back of the garden ready for whatever this summer brings. On Sunday it rained so bad in County Louth it felt like a dark November's day.
I kept saying to myself get me a flight out of here to the sunshine ASAP! Elsa, Marta, Anna and Leo from Italy enjoying a picnic in the sun at Sandycove, Dublin in May 2025. (Image: Sam boal/Collins Photos) Shane will be back
Shane Lowry is one of our sporting heroes and I really felt for him at the Open in Portrush.
Despite all his positivity and good play the golfing gods just seem to be against him with a ridiculous two shot penalty for his ball moving in the rough - which was ridiculous - and then he got a number of other bad breaks.
But then to round it all off he picked up a stomach bug which is the last thing anyone needs.
There is no doubt Shane will win another Major and it will happen when we all least expect it. Shane Lowry blows a kiss to the crowd after finishing his final round (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady) Don't mention Epstein!
Many of Donald Trump's core Make America Great Again supporters are turning against him over his refusal to release publicly all the Jeffrey Epstein files.
For years the President's close allies had peddled lies that the disgraced dead banker had organised paedophile rings for leading Democrats.
Now it seems there is no such evidence, much to the MAGA movement's dismay and they want every file released to prove otherwise
Only problem is Trump and Epstein partied together for decades until they fell out. And Trump's name could be in the files which would be bad news for him.
The whole Epstein drama has put the President in a bit of a pickle to say the least. Trump has denied sending a lewd drawing to Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday (Image: Internet Unknown) Matter of time for the Kinahans
My Garda pals tell me it could be a while yet before the ringleaders of the Kinahan crime cartel, Christy Snr, Daniel and Christy Jnr, are extradited back to Ireland.
There are no specific charges outstanding for them in Ireland at the moment and no international warrant for their arrest can be issued until that happens.
The Gardai are currently waiting on the DPP to make a decision on whether they can be charged with directing an organised crime gang.
A detailed Garda file on the Kinahan Gang's worldwide activities has now been with the DPP for over a year.
Hopefully a decision will be made sooner rather than later. Crime boss Daniel Kinahan (Image: Irish Mirror)
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