Godred_Crovan Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Bernard Moffatt said "Irish presidency 'significant' to Island". http://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/irish-presidency-significant-to-island-4404/ I think it very well could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Bernard Moffatt said "Irish presidency 'significant' to Island". http://www.three.fm/...to-island-4404/ I think it very well could be. I note 3FM's document failed to even mention the number one and number two in the polls. They only mentioned the two 'newsworthy' ones. Personally I don't think President Higgins will have any impact on the IOM - he will have precious little on Ireland. How do you think his election will be significant for the Island? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey boy Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Well I think we should be forging stronger links with the Rep. of Ireland. I think at the moment we are far too reliant on the UK for far too many things & given its proximity the Irish Republic is an obvious place to start making our own relationships with other countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godred_Crovan Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Well I think we should be forging stronger links with the Rep. of Ireland. I think at the moment we are far too reliant on the UK for far too many things & given its proximity the Irish Republic is an obvious place to start making our own relationships with other countries. Exactly what I thought. Am I the only one who feels that the UK press had very little coverage of the elections compared say to elections in the USA or France? How far away is the Irish Republic? How many people of Irish decent (outside of Northern Ireland) living in the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 But power in Ireland resides with the Taoiseach not with the President. Certainly the Irish export economy seems to be performing far better than the UK's at present despite the weakness of the £ against the euro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey boy Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 But power in Ireland resides with the Taoiseach not with the President. Certainly the Irish export economy seems to be performing far better than the UK's at present despite the weakness of the £ against the euro. True but power in the UK resides with Westminster & not the royal family. It doesn't stop us bowing & scraping & spending tens of thousands of tax payer's money everytime one of those freeloaders decide to grace us with a visit. I take your point though but the President does have political influence in Ireland & we would be aswell forging links with him as sending political members or civil servants to the UK in the hopes of picking up a few scraps from under the table of the tory party conference or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 the President does have political influence in Ireland It's a ceremonial position and wields little if no political power or influence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Well I think we should be forging stronger links with the Rep. of Ireland. I think at the moment we are far too reliant on the UK for far too many things & given its proximity the Irish Republic is an obvious place to start making our own relationships with other countries. What sort of relationships do you mean, economic? Godred Crovan Am I the only one who feels that the UK press had very little coverage of the elections compared say to elections in the USA or France? How far away is the Irish Republic? How many people of Irish decent (outside of Northern Ireland) living in the UK? Well...the USA is still the greatest economic and military power in the world. The elections in the USA have a big impact on the world. They make the UK elections seem relatively inconsequential given the US role in the world, nevermind Ireland - a country that is a small economic power.As for France, again, it is a bigger player in the world than Ireland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaipyr Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 He's very supportive of Irish culture and I was delighted that the new president is an Irish speaker - it should be a pre-requisite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godred_Crovan Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Well I think we should be forging stronger links with the Rep. of Ireland. I think at the moment we are far too reliant on the UK for far too many things & given its proximity the Irish Republic is an obvious place to start making our own relationships with other countries. What sort of relationships do you mean, economic? Godred Crovan Am I the only one who feels that the UK press had very little coverage of the elections compared say to elections in the USA or France? How far away is the Irish Republic? How many people of Irish decent (outside of Northern Ireland) living in the UK? Well...the USA is still the greatest economic and military power in the world. The elections in the USA have a big impact on the world. They make the UK elections seem relatively inconsequential given the US role in the world, nevermind Ireland - a country that is a small economic power.As for France, again, it is a bigger player in the world than Ireland. Well I think it might just be time to make neighbours important again. With Scotland looking for more and more freedom it just might be very very important to see what these"little unimportant players" are doing. And by the way is the Isle of Man important? The answer is yes.Otherwise the crown would have let it go its own way years (decades,centuries) ago. The guy who lives next door to you is very important like it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 In what respect? I am not necessarily disagreeing, but in terms of trade, Ireland and Scotland are not currently that important. But I had replied specifically about why you here more about elections in other countries. And that's because they are bigger players in the world. Far bigger players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godred_Crovan Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 In what respect? I´ll answer with another question which aims to make us reflect on the peoples closest to us. How important did Tunis become to it's neighbours? Were the election results in California more important to the people of Egypt than the unrest in Tunis or Bahrain? Certainly Arnold was a "big player" in his time but who cares about him now (in the Middle East) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Well the people closest to us culturally I would say are the people of northern england. With the Irish not far behind. I mean, I feel I have a closer affinity to an northern englishman than I would have to an irishman. I would expect most on the Island would say the same. I might be wrong though. If I hear about Irish elections, I think of them as not very important matters in a country quite different from our own. Whereas I see the situation as difference with the UK. I think this is down to economic, cultural, and political links and similarities. I don't think you are comparing like for like. If, for example, the United States was up in flames with riots in every city or were there to be a war of the United State versus some middle eastern country then such events would be more importantly than even a Manx election (or you would hope so anyway). Maybe there are good reasons for forge a closer economic relationship with Ireland or maybe maintain or improve cultural links. But just because a country is close doesn't mean it is necessarily important or should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I thought that at bailout time we were told that Ireland was the UK's biggest single export market and that is why it could not be allowed to fail? I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey boy Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Well the people closest to us culturally I would say are the people of northern england. With the Irish not far behind. I mean, I feel I have a closer affinity to an northern englishman than I would have to an irishman. I would expect most on the Island would say the same. I might be wrong though. If I hear about Irish elections, I think of them as not very important matters in a country quite different from our own. Whereas I see the situation as difference with the UK. I think this is down to economic, cultural, and political links and similarities. I don't think you are comparing like for like. If, for example, the United States was up in flames with riots in every city or were there to be a war of the United State versus some middle eastern country then such events would be more importantly than even a Manx election (or you would hope so anyway). Maybe there are good reasons for forge a closer economic relationship with Ireland or maybe maintain or improve cultural links. But just because a country is close doesn't mean it is necessarily important or should be. I agree many of us perhaps do feel closest culturally to people from Northern England but that is a purely artificial effect which comes from transport & media links aswell as immigration and perhaps an ingrained Manx inferiority complex coupled with the ingrained English superiority complex. I also agree that "just because a country is close doesn't mean it is necessarily important or should be". I think this is exactly the mistake that has been made with the UK in the past. Is a country like the UK really the type of nation we want to represent us on the international stage? (assuming we really need someone to represent us). I certainly think the links we should forge with the ROI should be economic but certainly not exclusively so. I think there would be much to be gained from cultural, political & economic relationships with Ireland. Ireland is closer to ourselves in terms of population size, foreign policy, history & traditional culture than the UK. It is better regarded internationally & is almost certain to deal with our reciprical requirements more sensitively than the UK has of late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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