Rob

Because journalists are too busy coming up with hypothetical scenarios and trying to manufacture gotcha moments for Catherine Connolly, I put together a list of some of her work 🧵 #Aras25

@IBB_INVEST @JakposHL @Tbones223 @rtenews ‘Our’ and you live in Canada. So you’re either Canadian or an immigrant living in Canada.

@JakposHL @Tbones223 @rtenews Indigenous Irish will be a minority in our own ancient homeland by 2050/2060 according to Government figures you self hating clown.

The Taoiseach has described the Great Famine as the most traumatic event in Ireland's recorded history rte.ie/news/connacht/…

In Ireland in 2024 net wealth of the top 1% grew on average by €334,374 per individual in one year The net wealth of the next 9% of wealth holders by €9,834 The 'middle 40%' (not really the middle) p50-p90, by less than €2k The net wealth of the bottom half fell by €142

@Schottberg @crystalwhatmore @nvw0819 @malonebarry In their defence your response is bullshit.

@crystalwhatmore @GymRobcom @nvw0819 @malonebarry Always good to see well reasoned analysis is alive and well.

Wow. And there you have it. The privileged voice of a media class who have no idea how people are forced to live in this city.

@nvw0819 @malonebarry That’d be the point of not recognising not everyone is in such a privileged position

@GymRobcom @malonebarry Really? I’m mid 40’s and have been renting in London on my own for 20 years earning less than Polanski does. So which point am I making for him?

@nvw0819 @malonebarry You’re kind of making his point there…

@malonebarry He’s not forced to live in London. He only has meetings once a week in London. He is also in his 40’s and house sharing

@loughrealad @MichealLehane You said ‘billions squandered’ but that’s not true. It’s ok to say, ‘oh I didn’t realise so little was spent on that. Next time I’ll read up on it instead of publicly making an idiot out of myself’

@GymRobcom @MichealLehane That's too much

Tánaiste Simon Harris has told the Fine Gael parliamentary party that October’s Budget will have an overall package of around €7bn and the split between tax and spending will be decided in the summer economic statement.

@GeorgeFitzallen @IrishTimesPol @OCallaghanJim @fiannafailparty It’s also because everything you were saying wasn’t accurate and easy to disprove, but if you want to explain it’s because you’re sensitive that’s fine too 👍

@GymRobcom @IrishTimesPol @OCallaghanJim @fiannafailparty Okay, if you’re just going to keep insulting me and calling me emotionless I’m going to leave it there. Best of luck to you.

O’Callaghan calls for a cut in the 52% marginal rate of tax irishtimes.com/politics/2026/… via @IrishTimesPol

@loughrealad @MichealLehane Less than 3.8% of the entire social protection budget is spent on people on unemployment. cso.ie/en/releasesand…

@MichealLehane We have nothing but a welfare state here. Billions squandered on lazy fuckers that never work. Nothing for the people carrying the country day in day out. Anyone on the social for more than 6 months should be sent to the army

@GeorgeFitzallen @IrishTimesPol @OCallaghanJim @fiannafailparty It’s not because we disagree, it’s because you’re emotionless, what you’re saying isn’t accurate, and who you blame doesn’t make sense We don’t have universal healthcare, or accessible transport, and welfare is means tested. We have tiered health, education, and transport etc.

Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t make them an emotionless bot. And if you’re just going to start throwing insults me, that’s a reflection on you. We do have universal public services: health, education, public transport, the civil service, pensions, Jobseeker’s Allowance. Then add means tested services on top, particularly housing. The middle class foot the bill but we don’t see the return. I am literally paying for the accommodation of some of my neighbours, and I’ve grown resentful of it. The more I earn to less I seem to benefit from those earnings, and I’m sick and tired of it. I and many other in Ireland’s middle want a break.

NO GMO LABEL There will soon be no genetically modified food labels in supermarkets! The members of the European Council and the European Parliament, that political class that has long looked more like a cartel of organized state crime than representatives of the people, decided

REVEALED: It took 18 months, and multiple FOI battles, but we can now reveal Ireland approved €20 million in military-capable dual-use exports to the IDF and Israeli Ministry of Defense during the height of its military assault on Gaza in 2024. thecurrency.news/articles/22697…

@clarence_tamar @ZackPolanski Does he own the house?

@ZackPolanski Not for you, though, eh, Zack? No council tax and currently living in a £2m house, we're told.

A toxic combination of low wages and high bills is crushing this country. Today is Starmer's last chance to set out a plan that will end Rip-Off Britain: rent controls, nationalising water, freezing energy prices, and taxing wealth. No more half measures.

Are you so comfortable with pedophilia that you think someone not paying £4,000 in tax is as bad as someone who rapes children?

@HearnsOfficial Yes

@GeorgeFitzallen @IrishTimesPol @OCallaghanJim @fiannafailparty This is the most AI reply ever We don’t have universal public services. We have often means tested welfare, and public services alongside private for profit services that are also funded through taxes. How you blame ‘the bottom’ for this is classic for an emotionless bot

Ireland is undeniably a welfare state. The government taxes workers and businesses in order to fund large-scale income redistribution and state-provided services, including welfare payments, public healthcare, pensions, housing supports, and subsidised education. The problem is not helping genuinely vulnerable people, as any serious society should do that. The problem is when the welfare state expands beyond a safety net and becomes a permanent governing philosophy, where ever more aspects of life are mediated through taxation and subsidy. Ireland taxes its middle class heavily, spends heavily, and increasingly struggles to deliver efficient outcomes in return. We have extraordinarily high public expenditure alongside persistent crises in housing, healthcare, infrastructure, and cost of living. That should at least prompt serious questions about whether continual state expansion is actually producing a healthier or more resilient society. You can support targeted social protections while still believing the Irish welfare state has grown too large and too economically distortive.

@GeorgeFitzallen @IrishTimesPol @OCallaghanJim @fiannafailparty See the last paragraph we can both agree on, but you’re blaming people living in poverty, and I blame people hoarding assets. You’re punching down trying to turn government misspending into a class debate. Which is exactly what they want. Explain how Ireland is a welfare state

What part of my argument is unclear to you? They don’t get everything I want. I want a quality of life I won’t get on social welfare. What I resent is that I could have an even better quality of life if my taxes didn’t need to go towards our welfare state. I’d say something if our taxes went towards quality public services for all, but they don’t. They go towards providing services to a very small minority, while the rest of us are squeezed.

@GeorgeFitzallen @IrishTimesPol @OCallaghanJim @fiannafailparty First off, you could definitely be clearer. Why don’t you quit your job and join those at the bottom considering they get everything you want, sounds like a no-brainier to me. I’m happy so long as my taxes go towards quality public services for all.

I couldn't be any clearer: my argument is that I am sick of paying more than my fair share of tax. I see nothing in return for it, while the 'single' couple next door who have never worked a day in their life reap the benefits of my labour. I was once very progressive, but years of tax hikes to fund our welfare state has made me bitter. I see nothing in return for the high level of tax I take, while others enjoy free housing, healthcare etc etc. I am sick of it and if that means it's time to pit the low and middle classes against each other, so be it. Our equal society is only working for a those at the top and the bottom.

@Paulius152 @thejournal_ie Where did he celebrate the massacre of Jewish people?

@thejournal_ie PBP councillor celebrates the massacre of Jews on October 7th: media silence. PBP election candidate has hissy fit over over man using wrong car: article in national media.

PBP byelection candidate Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin has submitted an ethics complaint about an alleged breach by Ray McAdam. It relates to McAdam's alleged use of an official car provided to him as lord mayor to attend an event as a byelection candidate. jrnl.ie/7037215f

@GeorgeFitzallen @IrishTimesPol @OCallaghanJim @fiannafailparty Not sure what your argument is anymore. Are you just pitting low and middle class against each other for fun? Supporting divide and conquer, paying for Twitter, punching down on lower class, advocating for tiered services… This is what we have already not what we want or need

I don’t see why me paying for Twitter has anything to do with this? Yes, the standard of public services is poor for everyone. But not everyone pays and equal amount towards these. We need some divide and conquer politics. The middle class are fed up of footing the bill for everyone else.

@AbsolutelyJosh_ @hxll_mxtt @MediaSOI @ToryFibs He was caught, so that doesn’t really prove that we can’t catch tax dodgers, it does the opposite in fact. But I get your point. I just don’t agree that not even trying it, when it has had success in other countries is the answer.

@GymRobcom @hxll_mxtt @MediaSOI @ToryFibs As an fyi, this proves my point, we should focus on the system we have rather than try bring in something completely new Council tax is the simplest tax, how on earth could we manage a subjective “wealth tax” when this basic tax is subject to tax dodgers like Polanski?

Green Party Policies: • £1 bus fares • Rent controls • Lower taxes for small businesses • Bigger taxes for the super rich • £15 p/r minimum wage • 10% higher carer allowance • £40 per week more for our disabled • Letting refugees work & pay tax Transforming our economy