Comparison of Irish and UK Income Tax 2012
Posted on 12/15/11 by StephenThere is still much misinformation about the amount of income tax paid in Ireland vs the UK
Click here to see latest comparison, this is based on 2012 rates and includes all levies as well as USC change in Budget 2012.
Minister for Misery Attacks Working Families
Posted on 12/05/11 by StephenMinister for Misery, Labour’s Brendan Howlin, certainly lived up to his party’s pledge to protect the Croke Park agreement, all at the expense (literally) of the 1.5m people who work in the private sector. This is Labour’s way.
Rather than stopping the €1.2b in increments paid to his public service union buddies, he attacked working families by:
- Doubling school transport costs
- Increasing drug payment scheme ceiling
- Forcing a 50% increase in private health insurance
This is Labour’s way.
Continue reading Minister for Misery Attacks Working Families…
Aras 2011 Wicklow Tally
Posted on 10/27/11 by StephenThe tally will start with the count at 9am, and is made possible due to representatives from all candidates working together and is usually extremely accurate.
The boxes are to be opened in numeric order so there will be regional shifts during the tally.
Keep watching this post for updates.
Live updates through Twitter, just click here to view.
The current status via Google Docs spreadsheet, just click here to view
Discussing Identity Theft on BBC Radio Ulster
Posted on 10/21/11 by StephenDiscussing the use of Social Media Identity Theft by supporter(s) of SF’s Martin McGuinness on BBC Radio Ulster. Click here to listen.
Martin McGuinness 40 years too late
Posted on 10/08/11 by StephenI note in Friday’s Irish Times Martin McGuinness predicated that attacks on his campaign would cease because they had not worked, if only he had come to the same conclusion 40 years ago, the thousands of people murdered by his IRA’s campaign would be walking around alive today, such as three year old Jonathan Ball, blown to pieces by IRA cowards in 1993, would now be 21 years of age
McGuinness as President? No thanks
Posted on 09/21/11 by StephenOne of the first interviews Martin McGuinness gave as a candidate for the Irish Presidency was with RTE. In it he stated that he wanted to be judged on his last two decades in Irish life. I can fully understand why he would only want a limited examination of his career. The contribution he made to Irish life and death in the earlier part of his career is the reason why he does not want to be treated like any other candidate and be judged on the whole picture. It is like sitting an exam and then demanding that the examiner only mark you on the last two questions you got right and ignore the other four you got hopelessly wrong.
Yes, we should be pleased and satisfied that he eventually made the journey from violence to politics, but we should not allow Sinn Fein’s flowery rhetoric over the duration of this campaign to delude us into thinking that he and his colleagues are the sole authors of the peace process.
The real authors of the Peace Process were John Hume and Albert Reynolds. It took all their powers of persuasion and influence to bring Adams and McGuinness along the road into constitutional politics. They were slow movers. We should all recall the slow progress, the false starts, the abandoned ceasefires. Yes the Unionists were no sprinters when it came to the peace process, but so too were Sinn Fein and the Provos.
Effects of the rioting and looting in Croydon
Posted on 08/11/11 by StephenMy sister-in-law Avril Head, aka Wondermum, who lives in Croydon spoke to Declan Meehan on East Coast Radio’s Morning Show today about the effects the rioting and looting has had on the area. The interview can be heard here.
Clarification Broadcast on East Coast Radio
Posted on 07/14/11 by StephenA comment broadcast yesterday about what I said on Newstalk during a discussion on social welfare was incorrect, East Coast Radio kindly afforded me the opportunity to set the record straight, listen here.
Welfare Fraud discussion on Newstalk
Posted on 07/13/11 by StephenYesterday I participated in Newstalk’s Coleman at Large programme, John O’Donovan and John McGuirk presented the programme and on the panel was myself, Georgina Robinson of Gerald Keane & Co Solicitors and Seamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the NUJ.
We had a lively discussion on many issues, including Labour Minister Joan Burton’s decision to cut fuel allowance, this segment can be heard here.
Kenny should follow his own advice and resign
Posted on 07/10/11 by StephenIn January 2008, Enda Kenny called on the then Taoiseach to resign for demeaning the profession of politics. Today we learnt that not only has Enda Kenny broken his solemn promise to keep Roscommon A&E open, he also denied he ever made such a promise!
Enda Kenny himself has now utterly demeaned the profession of politics and he should now follow his own advice and immediately resign, not only has he lost the trust of the people, its clear he has lost the respect of of his party by his failure yesterday to get his preferred candidate selected to run for the Presidency.
It’s also fairly obvious that Kenny hasn’t read his own party’s Fair Care document which states their Universal Health Insurance “offers local hospitals a sustainable role in Ireland’s healthcare system.”
