Leader of a Ireland not knowing that Cavan is in the Republic of Ireland, the country he “leads”. It’s only like one of 26 counties in the Republic Bertie.
Damien Mulley
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I don’t know which is worse, the fact that he confuses the dire situation with regard to residential broadband with corporate broadband, or that he doesn’t know where Cavan is.
How long more must we put up with him?
i kinda actually like bertie, i mean yeah sure a lot of gafs etc but what leader doesn’t.
Who would ya have in his place?
In the UK and Australia immigrants have to pass a citizenship test. I suspect that if Ireland had such a test, Bertie would have failed on this one… lucky for him he was born here!
(NB I’m not suggesting Ireland should have a citizenship test – they’re a horrendous idea IMO.)
Anyone, Ben.
Actually this was a good opportunity to see how much the Dail record is different to what is actually said. The people who write the Dail record correct a huge amount of Mr Ahern’s english…as can be seen if you watch the video, and read the transcript:
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=DAL20080205.xml&Node=H6&Page=5
For example:
“And there’s none of them either even thinking of pulling away from us about broadband, they see, not alone are they using this country to develop their own capacity within Ireland…”
Which turned into:
“Moreover, one is even thinking of pulling away from us because of broadband. They continue to develop their capacity within Ireland”
It gets worse.. Since when do we change Ahern saying “We…” to “The Government..”
Leave Berties english alone. Attack his policy but going on about how he says is just anal
Yes Simon, let’s ignore everything he has ever said or will ever say. Press the fucking mute button on the TV when he comes on, put earplugs on during the Mahon tribunal, no fuckit, just cancel it altogether.
It’s not his english and terrible use of it that’s at issue, it’s the lies and double talk and constant contradictions that are the problem. Ignore that at your peril.
Leave Bertie’s English Alone. Sob sob.
I thought the Bertie video was funny, but that Britney fan one has made my day.
A. Bertie’s English isn’t the problem in this instance. It’s his geography we’re more worried about.
B. When Bertie mumbles and waffles, he’s throwing up a smokescreen to hide the fact that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If he speaks incoherently, it’s because he’s thinking incoherently too.
Hitler would know where Cavan is!
Ok ok
BUT do you feel you would be saying the exact same thing if lets say Enda Kenny was Taoiseach? I think it’s easier to argue against a point than make a decent one.
I’m not in the Bertie camp but if someone asked me who would you have in his place, i’m stumped. I wouldnt hang him over his english or mannerisms but look at the bigger picture.
@Damien : How did you find that crazy britney fan. That has just made my weekend lol
Speaking as a history student I’m rather horrified to see how much they changed the ‘English’ that Bertie used there…. (!)
@Simon What are you on about? The Dail record should accurately reflect what is said. I dont care if his English is bad or not, but the record should be as close to verbatim as possible.
haha that Chris Croker vid on Britney always cracks me up. Wonder will he ever be a Bertis fan! 🙂
Let’s see, he’s inept and dishonest – we can probably all agree on that easily enough. So why does his poor English matter? It shouldn’t really, it’s not like he’s involved in the drafting of complex legal documents on which national sovereignty rests, is it? He doesn’t need to be precise in his use of English because millions of euros and people hang on what he says. Oh wait, he’s the prime minister of this country – of course his poor literacy level matters!
To the tune of ‘Angel is a centrefold:
My blood runs cold,
My country* has just been sold
My Taoiseach is a thicko.
(Taoiseach is a thicko)
* county if you’re from Cavan.
Or maybe he wanted to talk about the advances of the Republic of Ireland *as a whole* and not about a specific county, i.e. Cavan? Just saying.
There’s plenty else to complain about in that video… are Google and Dell here for the technology and work force, or for the tax breaks and foothold into Europe?
It’s just strange to use the phrasing ‘Republic of Ireland’ in that case Michael – referring to ‘the country’ or ‘the whole country’ would seem far more natural phrasing.
To be confirmed by the Green Party :
That there is no place named ‘Cavan’ on Planet Bertie .
The main problem with confirmation of the above from Mr Gormley & Co is that I won’t believe it until such time as I see it in black and white in their next election manifesto .
THEN I’ll believe it…..
😉
Sharon.
Sharon, you coming to the blog awards?
@Gamma Goblin: Dunno about that, sure didn’t the Nazi’s accidentally bomb Dublin thinking it was Belfast?
Maybe Bertie mistakenly thought Cavan wasn’t in the Republic of Ireland because it’s in Ulster. Wonder if he’d have said the same about Donegal or Monaghan…
Actually, Bertie is travelling to meet Gordon Brown in Manchester today.
Well, that is as long as he realises Manchester isn’t in Scotland…
Hi Damien !
John registered on behalf of our blog for the Blog Awards – but if he gets delayed or waylaid elsewhere , I’ll go instead , if that’s OK . We won’t send ‘Junior’ – he’s a sore loser and might not take ‘third time unlucky’ as graceful (!) as John or I would [or will 🙁 ] ….
Thanks!
Sharon.
They didn’t bomb Cavan though did they 🙂
I just posted a more detailed comment on the other post about this…
IF broadband is still a problem at national level those opposing the Government should speak about it at such a level.
It’s not his english and terrible use of it that’s at issue, it’s the lies and double talk and constant contradictions that are the problem. Ignore that at your peril.
The issue here is “Leader of a Ireland not knowing that Cavan is in the Republic of Ireland”. Now what he said was
Which I would say was he was saying we can talk about individual counties on another day we are talking about the country as a whole now. But no one wants to talk about that much easier to deride him saying he doesn’t know where Cavan is.
Hang on now, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear that Bertie actually refers to the “Republic of Ireland’s”, twice. “Irelands” as in more than one. I think he’s off the hook lol
This confirms that Bertie Ahern is an idiot. Instead of correcting himself after he made the remark about broadband he repeated himself. Every person from Cavan should contact his constituency office on 01-8374129. I contacted the office earlier today to see if the Taoiseach was suffering from some neurological condition & suprisingly he does not seem to be. If you don’t get much of a response from his secretary then I would suggest calling Minister Brendan Smith. He can be contacted on (01) 635 4763 (Dublin Office) or (049) 436 2366 (Cavan Office). Brendan is in his Cavan office today. My hope is that Brendan will be able to give the Taoiseach a crash course in the counties of Ireland. All we have to do now is wait for the Taoiseach to make an official public apology.
Jesus, I think you’re missing the point here people.
Firstly, whether or not he was actually claiming that Cavan isn’t in the Republic of Ireland is under contention… it certainly didn’t seem to me that that is what he was saying… and secondly, how about ACTUALLY ADDRESSING THE POINT OF HIS ARGUMENT – that Ireland is essentially the be all and end all of broadband internet quality.
Total and utter fucking bullshit and yet you’re more interested in picking on the guy for the slightest possibility that he might have made a slip-up in grammar or – heaven forbid – geography.
I totally agree with Bertie on one thing — let’s leave Cavan for another day. We’re talking about the Republic of Ireland here… and the sorry state of broadband internet access within it.
Michael, you are the one missing the point you twat. I am now wondering if you are suffering from some neurological condition – possibly cantgetmyheadoutofbertieahernsarse – I hear it is pretty rampant among the Fianna Fail party. The problem with you Michael is that you can’t think for yourself. I hope your condition improves over time!!!!
Paul, I’m not a Fianna Fail supporter and certainly don’t agree with the Taoiseach on the points he makes in this video. Please keep your unfounded accusations and childish insults to yourself in future.
If you read my comment you’ll see that I’m not I’m not at all agreeing with what Bertie Ahern has to say, I’m simply suggesting that our collective time and effort would be better spent addressing the salient points of his speech, rather than picking on him for a grammatical or geographical slip-up.
Now the argument is about “what the argument is about”. Mr. Flanagan, the commenters are addressing directly the topic of this post. Mr. Mulley has spent many a fine evening posting about the state of BB in Irelands’ [sic]. So if anyone has a right to go off in a tangent posting about Bertie’s English and/or national geographic knowledge, it is he.
Paul, please don’t personally insult people like that again. You can call people out without calling them twats.
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I guess I agree with you there, Gamma. Damien’s forever on the front lines of the good fight for better Internet in each and every one of the Irelands 🙂 I guess he can afford a tangent or two at this stage.
But.. if there’s one thing I hate about politicians (and to a lesser extent political commentators) it’s their seemingly total inability to admit mistakes. And if there’s another thing I hate, it’s their fondness for jumping up and down and shouting about silly little tabloid-friendly slip-ups like this when there’s actual real issues worth addressing.
Just found this website now. perhaps its not about geographical mistakes, but (in Bertie-speak) about country (the Republic of Ireland) not county (Cavan). Irish politicians are fiercly parochial, wanting policy to benefit their voting area rather than taking a national perspective on things. I guess its part parochial psychology and part a perversion of an electoral system that incentivises that way of doing things.
Anyway,interesting quote by Bertie, in the context of investment in different sectors, from 2.59 – ‘productivity becomes essential when the international markets ahhhm have a downturn’ . Another Fianna Failure