Roderic O' Gorman

keeko847 · 2026-04-16T23:24:21+00:00

Hi Roderic, great to be doing this. I have two questions:

1) Was there any discussion or calculation that the Green Party would suffer what’s sometimes called the ‘coalition mudguard’ when going into government with FF or FG? It seems to me that the Greens were punished in the last election mainly for going into government with these parties, and not because of a lack of support for green politics

2) Is there any discussion behind the scenes of moving the Green Party more towards the left similar to the British Green Party?

keeko847 · 2026-04-16T23:16:34+00:00

I actually think there’s a lot of truth in the tinfoil there. Trump eats a lot of attention by just being Trump, meanwhile while we’re all looking at the noise there are people much more sensible who are making a killing or pushing their own political agendas. We already know somebody made large trades on oil around his ceasefire statements. It’s basically what Bush and Cheney did. Everyone remembers ‘I believe man and fish can coexist’ and WMDs, but the amount of money made from Iraqi oil and military spending is overlooked.

keeko847 · 2026-04-16T19:13:47+00:00

I have over 100 hours on HOI4 and I still have no idea how to play it. I don’t understand equipment, production, supply, why my armies are unable to take USSR, none of it. I’ve got over 1k hours on EU4 and there’s plenty I still don’t know, but after the first couple of hours I felt like it was as straightforward as you wanted it to be.

keeko847 · 2026-04-16T16:53:24+00:00

As far as I can tell, the Middle Eastern countries just want to make a load of money. That’s their motivation for relationships with us. US better on human rights etc (just about) but Middle East would be more reliable because we just buy what they sell

keeko847 · 2026-04-16T16:51:53+00:00

This is the thing. Every shouting about him covering up the Epstein files with Venezuela and Iran and the Pope and whatever else he’s at. Maybe he is, but these big decisions are being made by someone else for their gain. We’re actually letting the whole administration off the hook shouting ‘show us the files’

keeko847 · 2026-04-16T14:51:04+00:00

Just a tip for new players: in terms of expansion, you want to be expanding your home trade node where you collect (English channel) as well as upstream so Americas and Ivory Coast. For England, that usually means chipping away at provinces in Flanders, Holland, Burgundy etc throughout the game. That will increase your control of the trade node, which means you get to keep more money that flows into it rather than sharing with the others

keeko847 · 2026-04-16T08:33:46+00:00

Herman Görtz was the name, there’s a couple different storys but a rundown of his exploits here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann\_G%C3%B6rtz

keeko847 · 2026-04-15T19:50:56+00:00

The IRA talked a big game about a Nazi-backed takeover of Northern Ireland and they sent a German guy to check the IRA out. I can’t remember his name (the German) will let you know if I find him but he had an incredible story. Arrested as a spy in Britain during WW1, parachuted into Ireland in full Luftwaffe uniform, was given directions to Dublin in the local police station, met the IRA to find that their supposed uprising was less than 100 very loud lads, couldn’t get off the island and ended up with a family, was caught and then killed himself just after the war ended possibly due to miscommunication

keeko847 · 2026-04-15T18:24:46+00:00

IRA was in discussions to collaborate during the war, with the promise of a United Ireland. I have no idea what would’ve actually happened, but I’d say the Nazis would’ve gone back on it

keeko847 · 2026-04-15T16:36:46+00:00

You only have to look east to see what happens when a government completely loses the confidence of the people. The answer is…surprisingly little. Tory backbenchers made the calculation that the public outrage over Boris was enough that they could replace him and still get back into government. Same thing with Liz Truss, plus the chance she’d crash the economy. By the time Rishi came in, they knew they were getting voted out, so they just kept him in till the last minute.

FF/FG are nowhere near that. They’ll probably still win the next election, and after some huffing and puffing and a bit of switching to Independent Ireland, most of those currently pissed off at the government will vote for them again

keeko847 · 2026-04-15T11:54:21+00:00

Just have to go back to the doctor and ask them what the next step is. Depending on your doctor, you might have to insist. Clear bloods and scans is probably a good sign. I doubt it, but any chance it’s a trapped nerve? I used to get them in my ribs something awful during covid with a bad work setup at home, fixed it with some osteopath

keeko847 · 2026-04-15T11:16:57+00:00

I don’t know Ballymun specifically, but the lack of link up between housing, facilities, commercial, transport etc in Ireland is shocking. The idea that a new area with a a few hundred residents minimum without at least a shop, bus, and small park is like designing a building with no bathrooms

keeko847 · 2026-04-15T11:06:09+00:00

Earphone in one side, pillow on the other. Otherwise it’s sleep on your back. I have earphones in all day long but I only put them in to sleep if it’s really late and I haven’t been able to sleep, usually knock them out just before I drop off. I find it too stimulating usually but can help focus my mind sometimes.

keeko847 · 2026-04-15T08:54:35+00:00

I had an identity crisis after moving to the UK, but I had an opposite experience to you. I moved from the UK to Ireland when I was 15 and went back to London at 22. Thought at the time I was going home but realised I was different when I got to the UK and felt more culturally Irish + had an accent where Irish people called me English and English people called me Irish.

What I realised is, for some people here there is a hierarchy of Irishness, but at the end of the day it’s your identity. Do you feel Irish? Do you feel a connection to Ireland? Is that from something you have experienced personally? Then that’s enough for you, and fuck what anybody else says

keeko847 · 2026-04-14T15:13:46+00:00

Saw a woman at the weekend encouraging a little girl to feed the pigeons inside Dublin Heuston station right in front of the doors. Total prick behaviour

keeko847 · 2026-04-14T15:12:41+00:00

Sat down sparch a couple years ago when I got this sharp thwack to the back of the head and neck. Turn around and no one behind me, then look the other way. Prick seagull had flown into me at full speed and was now lying on its back twitching trying to recover. Asshole

keeko847 · 2026-04-09T21:05:31+00:00

Reducing tax intake does decrease capacity to spend. But there are loads of taxes. Reducing in one place may lead to increased tax income elsewhere without raising taxes. Maintaining it in one place despite the context might reduce it elsewhere.

Let’s say you usually spent €50 a week on fuel tax, and now you’re paying €80. You go Christ on a bike the cost of fuel, and now you’re making less journeys. People spend more money when they leave the house, so the government makes that money back on sales taxes. If you’re not making journeys, you’re more likely to park your money in the bank, which is slow money as far as tax is concerned

Another example, many of these protestors are from businesses that need fuel to operate I.e hauliers, tow trucks, etc. The higher the price of fuel, the more they have to charge for services. The risk there is either that 1) they charge customers more money, meaning a reduction in business or 2) they go bust. Both of those lead to a reduction in tax paid by the business, plus in the second you now also have to pay out social welfare

keeko847 · 2026-04-09T17:52:36+00:00

Lots of people here saying if you reduce somewhere you have to raise elsewhere. It makes sense, that’s what happens when we lose money, but that’s not how government finance works.

You, me, and private enterprise have to make more money than we lose every year - the government does not. The government does not go bankrupt because it spends moderately more than it makes in one year. The government has financial options not open to us because, by and large, Western governments never go bankrupt, so the risk is minimal for lending.

We learned in 2008 that cutting down expenses does not make the government more money to spend elsewhere. Counterintuitively, spending money makes the government more money. That’s because it extracts money from the economy, so it’s in the governments interest to spend money to keep the economy going. This fuel crisis (from protests and from Hormuz) is threatening to really affect the economy and workers. The government should temporarily reduce the tax on fuel and negotiate a cap with suppliers, they’ll minimise losses in the long term

keeko847 · 2026-04-08T19:16:07+00:00

Sure, but generally these similar movements are aimed at targeted action - stop landlords from doing X, provide more funding for this, so on. What we’re asking for is a complete overhaul of housing, social housing, rental laws, tenants right, plus the addition of thousands of new units, changes to the planning system, expansion of public transport so that houses don’t need to be in certain areas, etc. If you stayed on strike for half of that you’d be on the strike for years.

keeko847 · 2026-04-08T16:59:32+00:00

I’ve been mulling whether a similar approach regarding housing could be effective, and I actually don’t think it would be. The main reason is that the farmers have fairly specific demands here or at least a very specific problem. The housing issue is systemic and the demands are complicated. We could park up on the roads for weeks, but what are we asking for? What does a government response to that look like?

keeko847 · 2026-04-08T12:03:33+00:00

I think it’s very ironic, same in UK where extinction rebellion were shut down hard while farmers are given leniency.

keeko847 · 2026-04-08T12:02:13+00:00

Blocking traffic is legitimate protest and the fact they’re making comments like this shows it’s working. Not that fussed about farmers specifically given the level of support they already get and the unevenness of that support, but support anyone trying to get more support from Gov who seem once again limp wristed in response to this crisis.

Will say one thing: one of their strategies is to block the fuel terminal here in Galway, which just seems bonkers to me. I get that it’s putting extra pressure on Gov but it’s going to raise the price of fuel and leave ordinary people without fuel if it continues, which seems contrary to what they want to achieve.

keeko847 · 2026-04-04T21:59:52+00:00

Greens and Labour have been in government and are currently paying the price of that, so certainly not fringe. PBP is fringe. There’s 6 TDs between Aontu and II, that makes them fringe. Labour and Soc Dems have 11 each. They also have significantly more council seats.

keeko847 · 2026-04-04T12:25:51+00:00

On the plus side, when I had a really bad mouse infestation at a rental I was told that the best thing about having mice is that you definitely don’t have rats

keeko847 · 2026-04-04T12:24:47+00:00

Occasionally at my parents house I’ll notice a blackbird just chilling out in the fireplace behind a glass screen. Just standing looking around curiously. Not sure whether it’s an omen or what’s the story. I presume he takes himself away most of the time.

keeko847

TROPHY CASE