i suppose it's only fair that they perform some sort of due diligence on all member states seeing as without them we'd be pretty fucked right now. Euro skeptic or not you do have to admit that Ireland has got a lot more from the EU than we have put in.
whether we can afford it or not is not the problem, we signed up to the EU and must play by the rules to get the benefits. For too long Ireland has been the poor man of Europe with the like of Germany, France and the UK paying for all our new shiny infrastructure (you don't think it was road taxes that paid for the upkeep of our roads ) even during the "Celtic Tiger" we were still depending on handouts. It's now our turn to fork out some cash so we just have to bite the bullet.
in regard to giving them "anymore control" maybe if they had been looking at our books properly over the past 15 or so years none of this current shite would be affecting us so badly. We were an economy based on an over inflated property bubble that for some reason the govt decided was not going to burst so we never planned for the rainy day. When the EU glanced at our books most of this was hidden in some way shape or form so it eventually got really out of hand. Now that we all know where we stand isn't it better off to have outside people looking in properly to make sure the politicians with vested interests don't do this type of thing again.
This is the age old argument that we have got more out of the EU that then have got out of us, forgive my French but utter bollox.
For the last 10 years or so Ireland has been a nett contributor, for anyone who does not understand that it means that we have given more that we have taken.
Also the EU brough us up to a certain standard that we would be able to afford to purchase more goods from
them look at the amount of Mercs and BMW's etc on the road.
The EU is responsible for the shit we are currently in
with the Euro we got cheap money, cheap money and lots of it was thrown at normal workers by the banks etc . Cheap money = property bubble etc.
The EU means we can no longer control our immigration policy = other state non national workers coming to Ireland and taking jobs, at lower rates that indigenous Irish could'nt because we had high mortgages to pay and children to feed.
Its easy for an easter european 20 something to come here share an Apartment with 10 others Pay 100 a month rent, save the rest, stay here for 5 years then fuck off home and buy a gaff over in Eastern europe for 50,000 - 70,000 without a mortgage, while Paddy has to live here for life.
So how exactly have we benefited from the EU ?
The only ppl who have is the Bertie Aherns and his ilk who end up with plum EU jobs
And the previous 10 years???
Sorry but nobody brought us to this only ourselves when we turned into a nation of yuppie snobs. Nobody forced us to buy these things with money we didn't have and couldn't pay back.............
I'm sorry Smarty, but to blame the EU for a mess largely caused by ourselves, all be it in the shadow of a global downturn is a total cop out.............
Nobody forced anybody to take this cheap money that was thrown at them, people created this property bubble themselves.
People couldn't exercise a little common sence and self control themselves???
Sadly no, many couldn't and those who did will now also end up paying the price......
And now they expect the government (the taxpayer, you and I) to bail out individuals who got themselves into trouble with second and third properties because they were stroking their own egos and keeping up with the Joneses..........
I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound harsh, but nobody forced them into this position.........
What about a normal Joe Soap who didn't jump on the property bandwagon, and ride the gravey train. Perhaps a small business owner, creating employment, paying his tax and all the rest, living modestly while people went nuts all around him, the guy who sees all his hard work and money invested in his business, and now sees that business close. Who's going to bail him out??? The government??? Will they fuck...........
I'm not getting into the immigration and Eastern European thing cause that the same thing as the EU. Grand while it suits us................
Don't get me wrong, I feel sorry that lots of us are in negative equity and struggle every day to make ends meet but to blame that on the EU because they brought us to that standard is utter BS...........
Smarty I'm not having a go at you here, I really enjoy your posts, I do............
Last edited by luther; 17-05-10 at 18:51.
"It's far easier to fight for principles than to live up to them."
L
Blame it on the Milgram experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, as long as the right people said it was alright to avail of the cheap loans and credit that was being passed out, who was going to say ''no''; the ''powers that be'' knew all along the results of this experiment and waited till the time was right and use it for their own good.
Cheer up, the way it looks, if you hadn't have formed NAMA, Ireland would have been under the mercy of the IMF-maybe that's why they gave credit so freely-to take you back to the days when the English were running things
some good points there Luther, I'm glad someone else in this country has realised that most of the problems we currently face are due to personal greed and don't just point the finger at "The Man".
As for Smarty and his anti immigration Eastern European rant, I wonder if he was thinking about Irish escorts loosing money due to poor immigration as he was hooking up with Czech and Polish girls he met on this site?