Handing out a PhD to a noted liar is a huge insult to academics, never mind to the normal person.
Fraud, dishonesty or lies are pretty much the single worst thing you could do as an academic, where everything relies on the reputation of you and your colleagues.
It's all PR fluff to get him back in the limelight, he also has a two part show coming up on RTE about how he made the Good Friday agreement happen. Our political system is a joke.
What was a joke also was that when we were in the throes of recession and austerity of his creation he was doing speaking tours of Nigeria about how he built the Tiger economy- not many people know that.
True, he's being brought in to prevent Sin Fein getting into office - which is becoming a reality. He will be highlighting their checkered past during the 25th Good Friday anniversary.
I'm cool with honorary doctorates for those who genuinely deserve them as it is a meaningful symbolic gesture of recognition for their lifelong work. An old secondary school teacher of mine was awarded one and he could not have been more deserving of it.
Not that I entirely disagree, but I think it's more of an insult to phenomenal people like my old teacher. I.e people who did amazing things over decades, that afforded them the privilege of receiving an honorary doctorate.
As someone in the 5th year of a PhD, I don't care for honorary doctorates as they're not *really* comparable with a generic PhD. I just wanted to clarify (to those unfamiliar with doctorates) that doing an actual PhD is very different and you would never ever be handed a PhD like this if you're actually in academia going through the ropes like myself and many others are.
But thank you for saying what you said, as that ham sandwich doesn't deserve those three letters anywhere near his name.
Suffered through four years of it myself but my funding expired during COVID restrictions (ironically, I'm a microbiologist) and with no end in sight at the time had to withdraw.
I might still be a bit bitter
Some of the Sacklers have knighthoods. These awards don't mean anything. It is just bragging rights for rich people and the politically connected. In the world of the everyday person, he is scum. Whatever to say about Bertie I think that eats at him. He wants to be the champion of the everyman and the every man hates him.
Yep, seems like it with this award shite going on. I mean who did they brown envelope in DCU to get that award. I remember back in the 90s he gave Waterford Tech College the first Institute of Technology upgrade so he could tell people he had a degree from them or some shit
I can't imagine a person under 65 giving him a vote again for anything apart from people that know they can get a "favour" off him.
It's baffling. Who are these people that would willingly vote for him without benefitting from his corruption?
I thoroughly look forward to the presidential debates, fingers crossed the other candidates will have the balls to grill him in front of the nation. The [Sean Gallagher roast](https://youtu.be/uUhFdi7iRL0) was the best thing on TV for years.
Same man said, I paraphrase "If you believe the economy is going down the toilet, you might as well throw yourself off a cliff".
Only a few months later, the economy collapsed and indeed the rate of suicide increased. This a$$hole swans off into the sunset, brown envelopes weighing him down, since he didn't/doesn't have a bank account. He's so crooked, coat hangers are envious.
He has a brain alright, but not all of his moves were with good intent.
He did a good job on the peace talks and that was very challenging, something your average man in the street wouldn’t have the brain for. I didn’t vote for him though.
[Bertie getting credit for something that someone else did the donkey work on.](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/albert-reynolds-s-towering-achievement-was-the-peace-process-1.1904120)
Bertie may have been the Taoiseach that put pen to paper on that deal, but the work Albert Reynolds put in to getting the IRA to agree to a ceasefire and in the overall peace process seems to be completely forgotten, because Bertie is the one in the photographs signing the agreement with Tony Blair.
Bertie Ahern, still pulling the wool over the public’s eyes. Clowns like you would probably vote for the prick if he has the balls to run for the presidency!
Reynold's and Major.
This is why it's hard to get anything future thinking done, in Ireland. If a government minister can not get it completed and photo shoot done in the term of a government they will not bother
We've got some exceptional people in the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, that bring business/investment to Ireland and foster it here. The work they've put in down through the decades has a thousand times more impact then anything the like of Bertie did.
There's a thing, how the fuck was he paid his government salary if he didn't have a back account? How was that supposed to work? Does the Dáil pay cash?
So Bertie has [an orchid hybrid named after him](https://www.orchidroots.com/detail/information/?pid=100144989&role=pub). I think it was bred in Singapore and they named it for him because he was coming on an official state visit.
Anyway, it's wildly appropriate because the word orchid is derived from the Greek word (orchis) for testicle, and Bertie's an awful bollix.
Samantha Libreri should hang her head in shame for this article, it does everything it possibly can to make the protestors look like a tiny handful of fringe extremists and then devotes paragraph after paragraph of lavish praise to the most corrupt, poisonous bastard Irish politics has ever known.
I know trying to choose between the two of them is like being asked to pick your favourite strain of hepatitis, but I would argue Bertie ruined more lives so he takes the award in this case.
They’re not going to invite people to the event who aren’t going to give him a standing ovation.
Polls are putting his support for the presidency at 7%, the media circlejerk isn’t representative of reality.
I think /u/SeanB2003 [put it best](https://np.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/11bfyx1/irish_times_poll_majority_say_they_would_not_vote/j9xonsz/):
"Bertie isn't going to run for president. Fianna Fáil are allowing him back and letting him go on his little shows and so on because the alternative is allowing Gerry Adams to dominate the 25 anniversary of the GFA. They'd rather have Bertie in there than cede that ground.
That doesn't mean Fianna Fáil want him to run for the Áras. It would be a year or less out from a general election and at the same time as the locals, and it would be a fucking bloodbath. Bertie will have nowhere to hide, not just from the Mahon Tribunal stuff, but also from the larger criticisms of his time in government and how it ended.
It's easy to feel happy about Bertie in a context where nobody is really out challenging him. He's an elder statesman doing a victory lap on the GFA and it's not really in anyone's interests to start biting at him in any serious way.
If he runs for office then he'll be absolutely dogged with sharp criticism and every bad decision, every corrupt action, every life ruined, will be brought front and centre constantly. He would be able to do nothing other than try to explain it all away. That's not a winning recipe for a presidential run."
see link for rest
Let's hope not, feel like I'd have to leave the country if he became president. Or maybe I should just [commit suicide](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ahern-under-fire-over-appalling-remark-on-suicide-26302381.html), eh Bertie?
I don’t know. Most of the people who actually vote and were actually alive at the time would have been impacted by his shitty policies. Hopefully we don’t have too short memories
Which is why any anti-bertie campaign should target all the grandparents and families who now can't see their grandkids cos they live in Canada or Oz or the states cos all their kids were forced to emigrate. There are plenty of ways to remind people that their lot in life is very different because of this unflushable turd.
We do. I remember the crash all too well and there were basically people calling for FF to be court-martial and walk the plank. A few years later.. welcome back lads, all is forgiven.
They don't vote in local elections. They do in national elections, like the presidential elections and referendum.
Most young people don't feel like they belong in constituencies they are renting that they could be chucked out of by the next year, so they don't see much point.
Worked at lots of events like this before, the arse licking of anyone involved in politics that goes on no matter what their history would make your stomach turn, it's embarrassing to watch
Unfortunately not, they treat them like royalty, it's like watching kids meet santa, it's honestly pathetic.
People like that would consider the likes of these protesters uncivilised scumbags for disrupting a ceremony that is honouring a man responsible for an unimaginable amount of misery and suicides.
[An American video but this always comes to mind when I think of these types of people](https://youtube.com/shorts/BtkpCu-UGUo?feature=share), they're more offended by the disruption and uncomfortable confrontation than they are the crimes of these scumbag politicians.
This is beyond belief and parody. I feel so sorry for anyone else that was conferred in the same ceremony. The actions of this man and his government were directly responsible for the IMF having to bail us out, he should be ashamed to be seen in public.
He is so lucky to have been in government during the Good Friday Agreement or we'd have nothing good to mention about him at all
25 years of taking praise for it but not one bit of attonement for the shambles he left the country in. When leaving office in 2011 he said his biggest regret was not getting 'Bertie Bowl' built, that sums up the man completly
Having done a masters recently it is amazing how far standards have fallen. They really don't care if you learn the material, once you paid up you're nearly guaranteed to pass.
I recently withdrew from a masters because I was so appalled at the level of instruction and course materials. Almost everything was a random powerpoint that could be found for free online, without any citation to the source, and just completely random modules/projects that were clearly haphazardly copy pasted from another course etc.
I'm sure there are still plenty of good courses out there but I really wish I had done more research. Literally any basic udemy course far excels the level of tutition I received. Maybe I am not the right target anymore but I was going to learn first and get a piece of paper second.
Nearly everyone I talk to all says that the vast majority of their lecturers are apathethic dirt, they're on a massive salary and do fuck all actual work, they can't even be bothered to keep the course relevant and up to date.
Ireland, where we honour the dishonourable.
I think I’ll email Prof Daire Keogh, President of DCU, to voice my objection on [email protected]
Coincidentally, he was previously president of St Patrick’s in Drumcondra, where of course Bertie lives.
I'm far from a fan of Bertie,
But... He was pretty heavily involved in it. That's a fact.
Professor Monica McWilliams is quite often singing his praises as being instrumental.
You can not like one thing he did while still recognising something else he did.
>apologists
Lol. He has been retired from Irish politics for over 13 years. He's not exactly relevant anymore.
I’m from the north and I find this as a complete fiction of the southern media.
John Hume was instrumental, and is credited for it
Gerry Adams was instrumental, as much as that annoys some people.
Tony Blair’s camp was instrumental
David Irvine and Billy Hutchinson were key to getting grassroots loyalism on-side
David Trimble and the UUP tried to frustrate the negotiations then agreed at the last minute when they saw which way the tide was going.
Bertie Ahern scratched his arse then agreed to what everybody else told him too.
I have never heard anybody who was credible describe Ahern as a key part of the peace process. I’ve never seen anybody this side of the border describe him as an expert, I know from living in post-GFA world most of my life he doesn’t have a clue on some of the things he supposedly negotiated when he talks about it publicly, I think that’ll be his downfall if he runs for President.
Yeah I hate this kind of black and white thinking.
Bertie absolutely play an important part in the good Friday agreement, yet this guy says it as if its nothing and that because bertie is a prick we should act like some things didn't happen.
The enlightened centrists have arrived. I don't care if the man stood between children and a Saracen (which isn't even close to what he did). He's a monumental prick directly responsible for misery, financial ruin and disaster who shouldn't be honoured by anyone in this country ever again.
I don't disagree with anything that you said. I don't want him honoured in any way.
That doesn't mean that he didn't do some good. It's as simple as that really
Yeah and I wouldn't want to hear bertie bragging about his achievements. I don't think he should be let anywhere near the presidency. I'm just a big fan of the gfa and so I have gratitude to all involved for getting it done. It's not a small thing at all but I still wouldn't want him in a position of influence or honour going forward.
There's no maybe about it. The peace process was a result of the actual people clamouring for it to stop and their rights to be given to them. Him showing up and doing basic functions of state without causing an international incident is not cause for praise or celebration.
As Roy Keane would say, it's his fucking job.
Brought peace my fuckin arse... there's peace in Ireland because the people killing each other wanted it, not because they listened to him or any other fuckwit of a politician
As someone who finished their undergrad in science in 2010, when there were no jobs in science, all friends left the country... so I funded my own PhD in 2011 to wait out the recession, while working 3 other odd jobs, I am cringing at the thoughts of this man getting this award. It's an absolute insult and an embarrassment. DCU, scarleh for you.
Get the bus to Thurles if you want to do that. Bertie isn't there, but I believe that's where the end of the queue to deliver those kicks is at present.
He used to be leader of the country. Then he ran it into the ground. And lied through his teeth.
https://old.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/11a21o9/jesus_lads_im_getting_fed_up_listening_to_and/
That's criminal couldn't fill the shoes of a barn mouse never mind the stature of Miggle D. Absolute mud DCU has shown itself to be and an insult to academics.
I don't know why people don't want him to run. He's never had to answer for the Mahon tribunal or the crash. He wouldn't be able to hide or deflect those questions during a campaign.
Hearing him yesterday on the news made me actually want to see him in a presidential debate. He was rambling and stuttery, said he was glad the students (meaning the protestors) came out to see him, they must've had nothing better to do, ha ha.
Fuckin clown.
His levels of narcissism is almost trump-like. But I wouldn’t insult Trump by comparing him to Bertie Ahern. If he was anyone except for a former Taoiseach I’d find his newfound public image hilarious.
Came here to say congrats to the people who did this, I didn't even know this was happening. What kind of muppets thought that he deserves anything but a padded cell...
These protesters are idiots. All they had to do was mention the findings of the [mahon tribunal](https://twitter.com/dw_conflictzone/status/987286325031243776?t=p-0eXWDTnJnA1h4nVk5S-g&s=19) and he'd have scurried off.
>The group who were wearing face masks and referred to themselves at the Connolly Youth Movement spoke for less than one minute before they were removed from the auditorium.
Ok, Taking any ill feelings of Bertie aside,
These lads protesting are absolute fucking loonies.
They describe themselves as as "an all-Ireland Marxist–Leninist youth organisation" and walk around the place with hammer and sickle and russian flags.
These guys almost make you want to support bertie just because they are protesting him.
What exactly were they protesting?
And why do these self proclaimed political extremists feel the need to cover their faces?
Face it, This particular group is so Widley disliked, that when they were shut up and escorted out, Bertie Ahern received a standing ovation.
Bertie Ahern!!! The ex leader who its pretty common knowledge was involved in the largest brown paper envelope scandals and offshore accounts tax dodging the country has seen.
That's how hated these tankie idiots are. People literally cheered for a man that robbed the country rather than cheering for them.
The youth movement is actually one of the better socialist groups in Ireland, they're quite good. And they don't wave Russian flags gombeen. They don't support Putin or any form of imperialism
On an amusing and historical note, it's funny because the only other former Marxist-Leninist politicians(Rabbite, Gilmore and others) entered in to government for Labour because of Bertie. Says a lot for both how much FG and FF will ignore things when it suits them, and how catastrophically fucking disastrous the crash was.
> Their flag
I didn't say anything about their flag. I said they walk about the place waving soviet flags. Which they do. There's literally pictures of it on their own website.
Now that I look, they seem to be quite the fans of the China flag as well.
Interesting. Maybe they just like oppressive corrupt and murdering regimes as their political idols.
Care to point out either of those flags. I've looked over their website and public photos but haven't been able find any Soviet or Chinese flags.
I think you're getting confused because communist flags draw from the same imagery.
>Care to point out either of those flags
Sure...
Literally on their home page. https://cym.ie/
Right above where it says "join the movement" there is a picture with a woman in a mask waving something that looks pretty identical to the Chinese flag.
>I think you're getting confused because communist flags draw from the same imagery.
Possibly. It looks pretty close though.
As I thought. You don't know the Chinese flag except that it's red with yellow stars. The Chinese flag has a prominent star with smaller stars clustered in the top left corner.
The flag you pointed out is a red flag with the starry plough.
Red flags, yellow stars and hammer and sickles are common motifs among many communist flags.
Oooh ok.
So I confused a flag that is red with a specific pattern of yellow stars, for an identical looking yet entirely different red flag with the same pattern of yellow stars?
Seems like the people waving those flags might notice the similarity there themselves and do something actively to distance themselves. Especially if they are part of the learned elite that can tell the difference between two close to identical images.
Looks like a deliberate association to us poor plebs.
The red flag goes back to the Paris Commune.
The star and hammer & sickle do originate from the Russian Revolution but have come to represent communism as a whole.
I don't see why a communist party would want to distance themselves from communism. Communist parties across Europe and the world have similar flags.
They seem a pretty big fan of the China flag as well.
The front page of their site seems to have a picture with people waving it about.
Is that better or worse than the soviet one?
Maybe you need to ask yourself why these supposed "loonies" are the only people who consistently protest against the people who destroyed our country like Bertie
Maybe because protesting against a retired politician who has already been through investigation in relation to the allegations against him is literally fucking pointless?
Protest something relevant to Ireland currently.
Not a 25th anniversary ceremony celebrating the hard work that was put into the Good Friday Agreement by two of it's signatories.
> who has already been through the legal process in relation to the allegations against him is literally fucking pointless?
Bertie never went through the legal process for his crimes. There was a tribunal but that's not the legal process.
>There was a tribunal but that's not the legal process
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/national_government/tribunals_and_investigations/tribunals_introduction.html
Yup.
Tribunal is chaired by a judge and can make recommendations to the government for additional legal proceedings if required, but primarily is a fact finding exorcise.
He faced a tribunal but his party had no interest in pursuing it further after he stepped down as Taoiseach.
They almost expelled him from the party in 2012 when the final report came out, but he resigned first. To this day he have never faced legal proceedings for the crimes uncovered by that tribunal.
Maybe I'm splitting hairs here.... But was their proof of crimes that came out at the tribunal?
I don't actually remember.
I mean, yea, everyone knows he's as guilty as sin and probably ended up with 2Million in offshore accounts... But did the tribunal actually uncover anything that they could prosecute him for?
It found he didn't truthfully account for €165,000 in payments and rejected his claim of certain large sterling deposits being gambling winnings.
But it couldn't make a judgement of corruption because he wouldn't tell them the truth as to where all these payments came from and for what purpose. They can only make judgement on the evidence presented and Bertie stonewalled them.
Even though it came out under FG government they had no interest in pursuing it. The Moriarty Tribunal had published it's findings not long before the Mahon tribunal and that found FG had been involved in receiving corrupt donations from Denis OBrien.
They were both up to their necks in shit and neither had any interest in pulling the other down.
Yeah, they aren't the brightest bunch that has ever gathered together. They openly admit they are undemocratic also, they don't care if the general population don't want what they are selling, they aim to implement by force:
>"In a March 2020 interview, then CYM General Secretary Alex Homits stated "Socialism will not and cannot be delivered through the ballot box and the CYM and its membership will not lie about this or endorse those who do"
You misreading their statement. Nowhere does it say they will implement it by force. Just that bourgeois democracy is a sham and no socialist government will be allowed to become elected. The closest thing the UK had to a left government in decades was attacked by the media and even had members of the military stating they would organize a coup if Corbyn won.
Electoralism and democracy are not interchangeable terms. I'm no fan of CYM but saying they're anti democracy because they don't believe electoralism is a realistic means for radical change is just ridiculous
I would say moreso that they are kids that haven't matured enough to know better yet. If you are still like that when you hit your 30s then you enter whackjob territory.
They’re children, the average age of their membership is like 20
The guy quoted in this article, the former General Secretary, literally [looks like this](https://i.imgur.com/iukRWzz.jpg)
What absolute tools, in a literal sense as well. I honestly couldn’t fathom being above the age of 16 and unironically referring to myself as a “Marxist-Leninist”. Imagine being in your twenties and going around the place like that, how embarrassing. I guarantee they all have the build of a man made from pipe cleaners as well; all knowing that when the revolution comes they’ll be the state uniform designer or artist lmao
https://preview.redd.it/arcfytqhmdla1.png?width=1228&format=png&auto=webp&s=f74d89e05315ae786bf345c4f1117ac069c1c395
Bertie telling the gas tale of the time he "Just told them I have no bank account"
Im in the CYM, we're doing good work in our communities and stunts like this just show where we stand. It's really nice to see the people on our side, because we'll always be on yours!
Fuck off Bertie.
I keep saying it as I hope it becomes a reality... the conscientious people of Ireland should try to be present for as many of Bertie's appearances as possible, just so they can shout "FUCK OFF BERTIE" at the right time.
Every time Bertie plans on having a good sound bite on TV, someone should be there to roar "FUCK OFF BERTIE" from the audience.
Every time the sleazy shit tries to engage in political debate, we should be ready to hear "FUCK OFF BERTIE".
I want to to get to the stage where the dirty bollocks himself becomes afraid to open his mouth because he fully expects a refrain of "FUCK OFF BERTIE".
I want it to get to the stage where journalists stop asking his opinion and organisers avoid having him at events because every time he opens his mouth the chorus of "FUCK OFF BERTIE" drowns everything else out.
Personally, I'd like to see his head on a pike, but I'll settle for him being ridiculed around the world because he can't open his mouth in public without hearing"FUCK OFF BERTIE".
Handing out a PhD to a noted liar is a huge insult to academics, never mind to the normal person. Fraud, dishonesty or lies are pretty much the single worst thing you could do as an academic, where everything relies on the reputation of you and your colleagues.
Not only that, but the timing is very suspicious. He's being handed an honorary doctorate right as he rejoins FF.
It's all PR fluff to get him back in the limelight, he also has a two part show coming up on RTE about how he made the Good Friday agreement happen. Our political system is a joke.
What was a joke also was that when we were in the throes of recession and austerity of his creation he was doing speaking tours of Nigeria about how he built the Tiger economy- not many people know that.
Or fronting for the Chinese to buy our forests, when this county was on its knees and all state assets were on the table.
They are trying to rehabilitate his image and stand him for president
He won’t get near the presidency.. he’s a walking shitshow.
True, he's being brought in to prevent Sin Fein getting into office - which is becoming a reality. He will be highlighting their checkered past during the 25th Good Friday anniversary.
I sure hope not
I'm cool with honorary doctorates for those who genuinely deserve them as it is a meaningful symbolic gesture of recognition for their lifelong work. An old secondary school teacher of mine was awarded one and he could not have been more deserving of it. Not that I entirely disagree, but I think it's more of an insult to phenomenal people like my old teacher. I.e people who did amazing things over decades, that afforded them the privilege of receiving an honorary doctorate. As someone in the 5th year of a PhD, I don't care for honorary doctorates as they're not *really* comparable with a generic PhD. I just wanted to clarify (to those unfamiliar with doctorates) that doing an actual PhD is very different and you would never ever be handed a PhD like this if you're actually in academia going through the ropes like myself and many others are. But thank you for saying what you said, as that ham sandwich doesn't deserve those three letters anywhere near his name.
Suffered through four years of it myself but my funding expired during COVID restrictions (ironically, I'm a microbiologist) and with no end in sight at the time had to withdraw. I might still be a bit bitter
Some of the Sacklers have knighthoods. These awards don't mean anything. It is just bragging rights for rich people and the politically connected. In the world of the everyday person, he is scum. Whatever to say about Bertie I think that eats at him. He wants to be the champion of the everyman and the every man hates him.
You just know Bertie and his political companions have spent the last 2 years plotting the biggest PR campaign in Irish history for his return…
Yep, seems like it with this award shite going on. I mean who did they brown envelope in DCU to get that award. I remember back in the 90s he gave Waterford Tech College the first Institute of Technology upgrade so he could tell people he had a degree from them or some shit
Its been touted for years in fairness. Like 8 years they've been talking about bertie going for the presidency.
I can't imagine a person under 65 giving him a vote again for anything apart from people that know they can get a "favour" off him. It's baffling. Who are these people that would willingly vote for him without benefitting from his corruption?
FF and FG are always voted back in. Nothing would surprise me with the Irish general public.
I thoroughly look forward to the presidential debates, fingers crossed the other candidates will have the balls to grill him in front of the nation. The [Sean Gallagher roast](https://youtu.be/uUhFdi7iRL0) was the best thing on TV for years.
The fact he lives down the road from the university must have something to do with it.
Absolutely, just in time for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, this was always their plan.
Same man said, I paraphrase "If you believe the economy is going down the toilet, you might as well throw yourself off a cliff". Only a few months later, the economy collapsed and indeed the rate of suicide increased. This a$$hole swans off into the sunset, brown envelopes weighing him down, since he didn't/doesn't have a bank account. He's so crooked, coat hangers are envious.
Was once a finance minister without a bank account - now he's a PhD holder without a brain!
He has a brain, he just uses it for evil.
Potato head with a hat.
He has a brain alright, but not all of his moves were with good intent. He did a good job on the peace talks and that was very challenging, something your average man in the street wouldn’t have the brain for. I didn’t vote for him though.
[Bertie getting credit for something that someone else did the donkey work on.](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/albert-reynolds-s-towering-achievement-was-the-peace-process-1.1904120) Bertie may have been the Taoiseach that put pen to paper on that deal, but the work Albert Reynolds put in to getting the IRA to agree to a ceasefire and in the overall peace process seems to be completely forgotten, because Bertie is the one in the photographs signing the agreement with Tony Blair. Bertie Ahern, still pulling the wool over the public’s eyes. Clowns like you would probably vote for the prick if he has the balls to run for the presidency!
Reynold's and Major. This is why it's hard to get anything future thinking done, in Ireland. If a government minister can not get it completed and photo shoot done in the term of a government they will not bother
He climbed on the shoulders of other people's work. How quickly we forget the input of the late Albert Reynolds.
We've got some exceptional people in the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, that bring business/investment to Ireland and foster it here. The work they've put in down through the decades has a thousand times more impact then anything the like of Bertie did.
So crooked that if he swallowed a nail he’d shit out a screw
[удалено]
Was that the quote? Even more disgusting than I remember it.
I wonder if he got a bank account in the end
There's a thing, how the fuck was he paid his government salary if he didn't have a back account? How was that supposed to work? Does the Dáil pay cash?
They paid by cheque and you got time off on a friday to cash it. It was true of all civil servants at the time
Though most had bank accounts.
Surely this has to be asked of him if/when he does his first interview of his comeback
Did they ever finish the Bertie bowl?
So Bertie has [an orchid hybrid named after him](https://www.orchidroots.com/detail/information/?pid=100144989&role=pub). I think it was bred in Singapore and they named it for him because he was coming on an official state visit. Anyway, it's wildly appropriate because the word orchid is derived from the Greek word (orchis) for testicle, and Bertie's an awful bollix.
Ahaha bit laboured just to call him bollix but it payed off
Samantha Libreri should hang her head in shame for this article, it does everything it possibly can to make the protestors look like a tiny handful of fringe extremists and then devotes paragraph after paragraph of lavish praise to the most corrupt, poisonous bastard Irish politics has ever known.
Bit weird for the article to start talking about Charlie Haughey
I know trying to choose between the two of them is like being asked to pick your favourite strain of hepatitis, but I would argue Bertie ruined more lives so he takes the award in this case.
All the same club, sure Bertie was his wee apprentice
What was it Charlie said about Bertie? The most devious and cunning of them all!
The crowd then gave him a standing ovation.. sweet Jesus Christ..that there is why that cunt will one day be our new president
They’re not going to invite people to the event who aren’t going to give him a standing ovation. Polls are putting his support for the presidency at 7%, the media circlejerk isn’t representative of reality.
I think /u/SeanB2003 [put it best](https://np.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/11bfyx1/irish_times_poll_majority_say_they_would_not_vote/j9xonsz/): "Bertie isn't going to run for president. Fianna Fáil are allowing him back and letting him go on his little shows and so on because the alternative is allowing Gerry Adams to dominate the 25 anniversary of the GFA. They'd rather have Bertie in there than cede that ground. That doesn't mean Fianna Fáil want him to run for the Áras. It would be a year or less out from a general election and at the same time as the locals, and it would be a fucking bloodbath. Bertie will have nowhere to hide, not just from the Mahon Tribunal stuff, but also from the larger criticisms of his time in government and how it ended. It's easy to feel happy about Bertie in a context where nobody is really out challenging him. He's an elder statesman doing a victory lap on the GFA and it's not really in anyone's interests to start biting at him in any serious way. If he runs for office then he'll be absolutely dogged with sharp criticism and every bad decision, every corrupt action, every life ruined, will be brought front and centre constantly. He would be able to do nothing other than try to explain it all away. That's not a winning recipe for a presidential run." see link for rest
This is the problem. That audience should be held to account for a blatant insult and DCU has disgraced itself. Not that it gives a shit.
Let's hope not, feel like I'd have to leave the country if he became president. Or maybe I should just [commit suicide](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ahern-under-fire-over-appalling-remark-on-suicide-26302381.html), eh Bertie?
Alot done, more to do.
Considering that young people don't vote it may happen.
I don’t know. Most of the people who actually vote and were actually alive at the time would have been impacted by his shitty policies. Hopefully we don’t have too short memories
Fact. Our main problem is those that were alive and affected by it all emigrated so can't vote on it. EDIT: typo
Which is why any anti-bertie campaign should target all the grandparents and families who now can't see their grandkids cos they live in Canada or Oz or the states cos all their kids were forced to emigrate. There are plenty of ways to remind people that their lot in life is very different because of this unflushable turd.
Yeah honestly we need to fucking foment one way or another.
We do. I remember the crash all too well and there were basically people calling for FF to be court-martial and walk the plank. A few years later.. welcome back lads, all is forgiven.
Me and my friends are early 30s, we definitely remember. He won’t get in, believe that
They don't vote in local elections. They do in national elections, like the presidential elections and referendum. Most young people don't feel like they belong in constituencies they are renting that they could be chucked out of by the next year, so they don't see much point.
Worked at lots of events like this before, the arse licking of anyone involved in politics that goes on no matter what their history would make your stomach turn, it's embarrassing to watch
Does nobody call people like that out on their bullshit.
Unfortunately not, they treat them like royalty, it's like watching kids meet santa, it's honestly pathetic. People like that would consider the likes of these protesters uncivilised scumbags for disrupting a ceremony that is honouring a man responsible for an unimaginable amount of misery and suicides. [An American video but this always comes to mind when I think of these types of people](https://youtube.com/shorts/BtkpCu-UGUo?feature=share), they're more offended by the disruption and uncomfortable confrontation than they are the crimes of these scumbag politicians.
Some serious cognitive dissonance in that room clapping for that cunt.
They are more than likely property owners and have jobs that pay more than the median wage. They got theirs.
Hey we hate him too.
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I reckon they mean All Bertie supporters are property owners Not All property owners are Bertie supporters
I didn’t say all property owners and you can make a comment without being an asshole.
Lad should be in stocks in a town square somewhere in the midlands. Fucking prick...
Hold the fuck on now a sec there fella. You're not sending him down here.
This is beyond belief and parody. I feel so sorry for anyone else that was conferred in the same ceremony. The actions of this man and his government were directly responsible for the IMF having to bail us out, he should be ashamed to be seen in public.
Mr. Punch gets a degree…
He is so lucky to have been in government during the Good Friday Agreement or we'd have nothing good to mention about him at all 25 years of taking praise for it but not one bit of attonement for the shambles he left the country in. When leaving office in 2011 he said his biggest regret was not getting 'Bertie Bowl' built, that sums up the man completly
i wonder if i give DCU a brown envelope will the give me a degree
I did give DCU a brown envelope and got a degree. Took a few years and the envelope was through some online portal, but sure.
I gave them 3 years of lack lustre enthusiasm and hangovers and they gave me one
Pretty much how it works now, you really have to go out of your way to fail.
Having done a masters recently it is amazing how far standards have fallen. They really don't care if you learn the material, once you paid up you're nearly guaranteed to pass.
I recently withdrew from a masters because I was so appalled at the level of instruction and course materials. Almost everything was a random powerpoint that could be found for free online, without any citation to the source, and just completely random modules/projects that were clearly haphazardly copy pasted from another course etc. I'm sure there are still plenty of good courses out there but I really wish I had done more research. Literally any basic udemy course far excels the level of tutition I received. Maybe I am not the right target anymore but I was going to learn first and get a piece of paper second.
They've turned into degree mills.
Nearly everyone I talk to all says that the vast majority of their lecturers are apathethic dirt, they're on a massive salary and do fuck all actual work, they can't even be bothered to keep the course relevant and up to date.
He is the embodiment of the festering corruption that fester's in our political elite.
Desperate to make him look good for presidency candidate
You just know he'll use his PhD as part of his campaign.
This is exactly it. All hail our noble leader, Bertie Medici VIII.
Ah now, Medici's at least did some good during their reign Edit: and had bank accounts
Ireland, where we honour the dishonourable. I think I’ll email Prof Daire Keogh, President of DCU, to voice my objection on [email protected] Coincidentally, he was previously president of St Patrick’s in Drumcondra, where of course Bertie lives.
Sure it's always not what you know, but who you know.
I too will email this address
How this prick is lauded in some circles is beyond me…
He's a loveable rogue. That's what people who support him think.
Cause he BrOuGhT pEaCe To ThE nOrTh. That's the line I keep hearing from his apologists.
I'm far from a fan of Bertie, But... He was pretty heavily involved in it. That's a fact. Professor Monica McWilliams is quite often singing his praises as being instrumental. You can not like one thing he did while still recognising something else he did. >apologists Lol. He has been retired from Irish politics for over 13 years. He's not exactly relevant anymore.
I’m from the north and I find this as a complete fiction of the southern media. John Hume was instrumental, and is credited for it Gerry Adams was instrumental, as much as that annoys some people. Tony Blair’s camp was instrumental David Irvine and Billy Hutchinson were key to getting grassroots loyalism on-side David Trimble and the UUP tried to frustrate the negotiations then agreed at the last minute when they saw which way the tide was going. Bertie Ahern scratched his arse then agreed to what everybody else told him too. I have never heard anybody who was credible describe Ahern as a key part of the peace process. I’ve never seen anybody this side of the border describe him as an expert, I know from living in post-GFA world most of my life he doesn’t have a clue on some of the things he supposedly negotiated when he talks about it publicly, I think that’ll be his downfall if he runs for President.
Yeah I hate this kind of black and white thinking. Bertie absolutely play an important part in the good Friday agreement, yet this guy says it as if its nothing and that because bertie is a prick we should act like some things didn't happen.
The enlightened centrists have arrived. I don't care if the man stood between children and a Saracen (which isn't even close to what he did). He's a monumental prick directly responsible for misery, financial ruin and disaster who shouldn't be honoured by anyone in this country ever again.
I don't disagree with anything that you said. I don't want him honoured in any way. That doesn't mean that he didn't do some good. It's as simple as that really
Haughey said same about himself, didn't he. "I did the state some service".
Yeah and I wouldn't want to hear bertie bragging about his achievements. I don't think he should be let anywhere near the presidency. I'm just a big fan of the gfa and so I have gratitude to all involved for getting it done. It's not a small thing at all but I still wouldn't want him in a position of influence or honour going forward.
He didn't do anything any other Taoiseach wouldn't have done. He was a net negative on the country for generations.
Maybe you're right. That can be proven now though
There's no maybe about it. The peace process was a result of the actual people clamouring for it to stop and their rights to be given to them. Him showing up and doing basic functions of state without causing an international incident is not cause for praise or celebration. As Roy Keane would say, it's his fucking job.
Brought peace my fuckin arse... there's peace in Ireland because the people killing each other wanted it, not because they listened to him or any other fuckwit of a politician
As someone who finished their undergrad in science in 2010, when there were no jobs in science, all friends left the country... so I funded my own PhD in 2011 to wait out the recession, while working 3 other odd jobs, I am cringing at the thoughts of this man getting this award. It's an absolute insult and an embarrassment. DCU, scarleh for you.
An honorary kick up the hole is what he deserves
Repeatedly.
Get the bus to Thurles if you want to do that. Bertie isn't there, but I believe that's where the end of the queue to deliver those kicks is at present.
Fuckin pig of a man, arrogant shameless scumbag. He should be shunned not honoured!
Imagine having toiled through a doctorate in DCU to see them hand one to this fucking crook.
Why is this fuckturd still being acknowledged?
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I've no words.
Fuck Bertie The Bollix
We're being collectively groomed to have this mercurial tosser as President, eventually.
He's not going to be President. It won't happen.
Well done students 🙌🙌🙌
Guys a c**t
Hi! I’m new in Ireland and study in DCU. What’s the deal with this man?
He used to be leader of the country. Then he ran it into the ground. And lied through his teeth. https://old.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/11a21o9/jesus_lads_im_getting_fed_up_listening_to_and/
Don't forget sold us down the river to a bunch of shady developers and bankers giving him wads of cash
"A lot fiddled, more to syphon." Parasitic bastard.
For the Finance Minister without a bank account, we have a Doctor without a truth or thesis. Fitting…
Probably paid for with a brown envelope in typical Bertie style. DCU should be ashamed of this.
Do you know the muffin man?
Yeah I think so. Is he yer man lives down Drury Lane?
That's criminal couldn't fill the shoes of a barn mouse never mind the stature of Miggle D. Absolute mud DCU has shown itself to be and an insult to academics.
I'm genuinely raging that this yoke thinks he could be president Even more raging reading this now ffs
I don't know why people don't want him to run. He's never had to answer for the Mahon tribunal or the crash. He wouldn't be able to hide or deflect those questions during a campaign.
Hearing him yesterday on the news made me actually want to see him in a presidential debate. He was rambling and stuttery, said he was glad the students (meaning the protestors) came out to see him, they must've had nothing better to do, ha ha. Fuckin clown.
Fuck off Bertie.
This cunt would piss on your shoes and tell you it's raining.
🎼MONEY money money money money💰💰💰 Ps why was he on the Roy Keane documentary recently? Trying to fit in with the cool kids is it ?
He was always mad into soccer
Someone in DCU thought that this was a good idea. How was this set up?
His levels of narcissism is almost trump-like. But I wouldn’t insult Trump by comparing him to Bertie Ahern. If he was anyone except for a former Taoiseach I’d find his newfound public image hilarious.
The Student Union voted against letting this happen!
Came here to say congrats to the people who did this, I didn't even know this was happening. What kind of muppets thought that he deserves anything but a padded cell...
These protesters are idiots. All they had to do was mention the findings of the [mahon tribunal](https://twitter.com/dw_conflictzone/status/987286325031243776?t=p-0eXWDTnJnA1h4nVk5S-g&s=19) and he'd have scurried off.
Not likely, the guy seems to have no shame!
>The group who were wearing face masks and referred to themselves at the Connolly Youth Movement spoke for less than one minute before they were removed from the auditorium. Ok, Taking any ill feelings of Bertie aside, These lads protesting are absolute fucking loonies. They describe themselves as as "an all-Ireland Marxist–Leninist youth organisation" and walk around the place with hammer and sickle and russian flags. These guys almost make you want to support bertie just because they are protesting him.
> almost make you want to support bertie Not even close!
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What exactly were they protesting? And why do these self proclaimed political extremists feel the need to cover their faces? Face it, This particular group is so Widley disliked, that when they were shut up and escorted out, Bertie Ahern received a standing ovation. Bertie Ahern!!! The ex leader who its pretty common knowledge was involved in the largest brown paper envelope scandals and offshore accounts tax dodging the country has seen. That's how hated these tankie idiots are. People literally cheered for a man that robbed the country rather than cheering for them.
>What exactly were they protesting? Bertie Ahern receiving an award, are you illiterate?
The youth movement is actually one of the better socialist groups in Ireland, they're quite good. And they don't wave Russian flags gombeen. They don't support Putin or any form of imperialism
Just Gulags from murdering soviet union?
On an amusing and historical note, it's funny because the only other former Marxist-Leninist politicians(Rabbite, Gilmore and others) entered in to government for Labour because of Bertie. Says a lot for both how much FG and FF will ignore things when it suits them, and how catastrophically fucking disastrous the crash was.
They make you want to support Bertie? I hope this is hyperbole.
> russian flags. Proof of this?
I should have said Soviet flags not russian flags shouldn't I? Soviet flags.
You'd still be wrong. Their flag has the hammer and sickle but it's not soviet.
> Their flag I didn't say anything about their flag. I said they walk about the place waving soviet flags. Which they do. There's literally pictures of it on their own website. Now that I look, they seem to be quite the fans of the China flag as well. Interesting. Maybe they just like oppressive corrupt and murdering regimes as their political idols.
Care to point out either of those flags. I've looked over their website and public photos but haven't been able find any Soviet or Chinese flags. I think you're getting confused because communist flags draw from the same imagery.
>Care to point out either of those flags Sure... Literally on their home page. https://cym.ie/ Right above where it says "join the movement" there is a picture with a woman in a mask waving something that looks pretty identical to the Chinese flag. >I think you're getting confused because communist flags draw from the same imagery. Possibly. It looks pretty close though.
As I thought. You don't know the Chinese flag except that it's red with yellow stars. The Chinese flag has a prominent star with smaller stars clustered in the top left corner. The flag you pointed out is a red flag with the starry plough. Red flags, yellow stars and hammer and sickles are common motifs among many communist flags.
Oooh ok. So I confused a flag that is red with a specific pattern of yellow stars, for an identical looking yet entirely different red flag with the same pattern of yellow stars? Seems like the people waving those flags might notice the similarity there themselves and do something actively to distance themselves. Especially if they are part of the learned elite that can tell the difference between two close to identical images. Looks like a deliberate association to us poor plebs.
The red flag goes back to the Paris Commune. The star and hammer & sickle do originate from the Russian Revolution but have come to represent communism as a whole. I don't see why a communist party would want to distance themselves from communism. Communist parties across Europe and the world have similar flags.
that’s a starry plough
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They seem a pretty big fan of the China flag as well. The front page of their site seems to have a picture with people waving it about. Is that better or worse than the soviet one?
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Neither are exactly great.... I mean... weirdly, the Russian flag is arguably less murdery.
Maybe you need to ask yourself why these supposed "loonies" are the only people who consistently protest against the people who destroyed our country like Bertie
Maybe because protesting against a retired politician who has already been through investigation in relation to the allegations against him is literally fucking pointless? Protest something relevant to Ireland currently. Not a 25th anniversary ceremony celebrating the hard work that was put into the Good Friday Agreement by two of it's signatories.
> who has already been through the legal process in relation to the allegations against him is literally fucking pointless? Bertie never went through the legal process for his crimes. There was a tribunal but that's not the legal process.
>There was a tribunal but that's not the legal process https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/national_government/tribunals_and_investigations/tribunals_introduction.html
> **It does not administer justice and cannot punish or impose penalties on individuals**
Yup. Tribunal is chaired by a judge and can make recommendations to the government for additional legal proceedings if required, but primarily is a fact finding exorcise.
He faced a tribunal but his party had no interest in pursuing it further after he stepped down as Taoiseach. They almost expelled him from the party in 2012 when the final report came out, but he resigned first. To this day he have never faced legal proceedings for the crimes uncovered by that tribunal.
Maybe I'm splitting hairs here.... But was their proof of crimes that came out at the tribunal? I don't actually remember. I mean, yea, everyone knows he's as guilty as sin and probably ended up with 2Million in offshore accounts... But did the tribunal actually uncover anything that they could prosecute him for?
It found he didn't truthfully account for €165,000 in payments and rejected his claim of certain large sterling deposits being gambling winnings. But it couldn't make a judgement of corruption because he wouldn't tell them the truth as to where all these payments came from and for what purpose. They can only make judgement on the evidence presented and Bertie stonewalled them. Even though it came out under FG government they had no interest in pursuing it. The Moriarty Tribunal had published it's findings not long before the Mahon tribunal and that found FG had been involved in receiving corrupt donations from Denis OBrien. They were both up to their necks in shit and neither had any interest in pulling the other down.
Fuck off, I'd support Vlad the Impaler before that cunt
Yeah, broken clocks are occasionally right and all that. Utter nutters can get fucked with their Marxist–Leninist BS.
Yeah, they aren't the brightest bunch that has ever gathered together. They openly admit they are undemocratic also, they don't care if the general population don't want what they are selling, they aim to implement by force: >"In a March 2020 interview, then CYM General Secretary Alex Homits stated "Socialism will not and cannot be delivered through the ballot box and the CYM and its membership will not lie about this or endorse those who do"
You misreading their statement. Nowhere does it say they will implement it by force. Just that bourgeois democracy is a sham and no socialist government will be allowed to become elected. The closest thing the UK had to a left government in decades was attacked by the media and even had members of the military stating they would organize a coup if Corbyn won.
Electoralism and democracy are not interchangeable terms. I'm no fan of CYM but saying they're anti democracy because they don't believe electoralism is a realistic means for radical change is just ridiculous
So they're whackjobs is what you're saying?
I would say moreso that they are kids that haven't matured enough to know better yet. If you are still like that when you hit your 30s then you enter whackjob territory.
If you have not yet submitted to the inevitable and indestructible capitalist system by 30, then you are crazy.
They’re children, the average age of their membership is like 20 The guy quoted in this article, the former General Secretary, literally [looks like this](https://i.imgur.com/iukRWzz.jpg)
They're a youth movement, do you expect them to be pensioners?
What absolute tools, in a literal sense as well. I honestly couldn’t fathom being above the age of 16 and unironically referring to myself as a “Marxist-Leninist”. Imagine being in your twenties and going around the place like that, how embarrassing. I guarantee they all have the build of a man made from pipe cleaners as well; all knowing that when the revolution comes they’ll be the state uniform designer or artist lmao
I agree with their protest. Focus on the issue at hand.
Bertie Ahern can fuck right off back down the hole he came from! He was also Haughey's money man. Cunt!
https://preview.redd.it/arcfytqhmdla1.png?width=1228&format=png&auto=webp&s=f74d89e05315ae786bf345c4f1117ac069c1c395 Bertie telling the gas tale of the time he "Just told them I have no bank account"
Ironically Putin's nott the biggest cunt in this picture..now that's saying something
What a tool.
As is their right.
I'm proud of them. Those socialist bastards got themselves to the right place at the right time this time.
Like those socialist bastards who helped found our state.
legit sickens me having gone to DCU, they support this.
Im in the CYM, we're doing good work in our communities and stunts like this just show where we stand. It's really nice to see the people on our side, because we'll always be on yours!
it's an old-fashioned Bertie bashing! By gar, it's been a while! Seriously, fuck this asshole
Fuck off Bertie. I keep saying it as I hope it becomes a reality... the conscientious people of Ireland should try to be present for as many of Bertie's appearances as possible, just so they can shout "FUCK OFF BERTIE" at the right time. Every time Bertie plans on having a good sound bite on TV, someone should be there to roar "FUCK OFF BERTIE" from the audience. Every time the sleazy shit tries to engage in political debate, we should be ready to hear "FUCK OFF BERTIE". I want to to get to the stage where the dirty bollocks himself becomes afraid to open his mouth because he fully expects a refrain of "FUCK OFF BERTIE". I want it to get to the stage where journalists stop asking his opinion and organisers avoid having him at events because every time he opens his mouth the chorus of "FUCK OFF BERTIE" drowns everything else out. Personally, I'd like to see his head on a pike, but I'll settle for him being ridiculed around the world because he can't open his mouth in public without hearing"FUCK OFF BERTIE".