Comments on: What Has Irish Independence Given Us?

By: Mairéad

Mairéad — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:51:08 +0000

Sorry to have missed this post last August.
So – what the Hell have we gained from Independence?
1. Swopped London-rule for Rome rule.
2. Left our schools and roads disintegrate.
3. Swopped foreign tyrants for home-grown incompetents.

Compare NI to us, not all hunky dory of course, but compare the services.

By: William

William — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:33:08 +0000

Should read 20 years ago.(my great celtic tiger broadband service disconnected as usual before I could edit)

By: William

William — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:22:41 +0000

vh…well said and totally accurate.And even with a benevolent continent pouring billions into it it still stays a shiteheap.Compare that with China for example a nation that had nothing going for it 20 years,Nothing but huge seemingly insurmountable problems.But still transformed itself into the most dynamic nation on earth with no help from anybody.

By: vh

vh — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:34:53 +0000

independence,,ha ha,,her majesty washed her royal hands of it, set up a puppet regime,ie De valera and his cronies,and now nearly 77 years later we are now living off the EU hand outs, this country would be third word status if it were not for european money, check out the signs on any new road ,,, EU FUNDED we would be still walking on cobbles or muddy byways and as for the hse well you only have to look at the UK and see the bigger picture, our country is being used and abused by every TD that has got their chance to soak what they can, just look at smart arse Bertie got out before the floor fell through

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:29:45 +0000

Lisa, sounds like you had really shitty luck, my condolences. Seems like our health system is a mixed bag – as I've mentioned my experiences have been fine, and my sister is going into the regional today to have a cancerous lump removed from one of her boobs tomorrow. She was diagnosed less than 2 weeks ago, in fact from the time she noticed the lump, to the initial referral, examination, biopsy and arrangment of the operation has taken less than a month, and it would have been faster but for a delay in the post….so I suppose what I'm saying is that the people actually doing the work in the health services are, as far as I am concerned, top notch. She's been handled with nothing but courtesy and professionalism this whole time….But the system seems to have these huge holes in it whereby if you slip through, you're fucked.

By the way, my sis doesn't have VHI or Bupa or anything like that. I doubt you'd get that kind of treatment in the US unless you had insurance.

Hopefully you will have better luck the next time, or better yet never have cause to use the services again! In the meantime we can all fix this – society just has to say enough is enough, and force the HSE to reform itself. And we can play our part as well by keeping out of A&E – and start demanding that GP's make themselves available outside of "office" hours like they do in pretty much every other country.

By: No.8

No.8 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:14:06 +0000

Lisa what you describe is 3rd world. I hope your husband is ok.

By: Lisa F

Lisa F — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:06:05 +0000

No 8: The US is most certainly not a shining example of U.S. independence, in fact, I am rather ashamed of the state it is in. The lobbying efforts of health insurance companies have deeply influenced and harmed the system. In addition, I find the general lack of compassion among Americans in regards to the desire to provide all Americans with access to health care to be truly appalling. However, what I have seen here compared to what I experienced in the U.S. makes me truly afraid to be admitted here for anything other than a broken bone.
In Ennis hospital, I saw dried blood which was never bothered to be cleaned up on the floor in my husband's room as well as on the curtains that separate patients. His roommate had just undergone surgey for a ruptured appendix, and was served a full Irish breakfast.
In Mayo General, the doctors left him screaming in pain until I interceded. The "specialist" admitted that he didn't "know all that much" about my husband's condition and told me that he needed to focus on conditions that he "understands."
I could go on and on.
I've experienced hospitals in the U.S. far too many times, and I am very aware of their shortcomings, however, they are nothing like I have seen here.

By: norma stleger

norma stleger — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:18:45 +0000

I found myself speaking quite fluent Irish to my daughter in the metro in Paris, couple of years ago, when faced with a mugging by 4 Algerians, was surprised at myself, is it the irishness in me that my back had to be to the wall to pull that out of the bag ? Also surprised at how fast i could run !

By: No.8

No.8 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:08:39 +0000

If we banned the Irish language, we would all be fluent in a generation. Irish problem, Irish solution.

By: William

William — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:14:17 +0000

In the Philippines they speak their native language and english,in Hong Kong they speak english and Chinese and same in many other places,it is perfectly possible to be bi-lingual if people want to speak english and their own native tongue.The Irish do not want to speak irish and thats an obvious fact.They just want to whinge and whine and wallow in victimhood and blame someone else for their lack of interest in it.If they want to speak it there is nobody stopping them now.