It’s easy to adopt an idealistic outlook when Ireland is the nicely tucked away between the US and UK/continental Europe.
Higgins is probably a tankie, tankies need to abandon their awful beliefs, buy a calendar and accept that the cold war is over now and that NATO and the world back then is different to now.
Of course this could all change again when trump comes into power.
Higgins is good at times but this is embarrassing.
Higgins. The ever lasting two term goblin has long lost any credibility.
Tucked up nicely in the park for nigh on 15 fucking years.
Oh, how dare these countries preempt a threat from Vlad the Mad.
Omg the brigading on this post is crazy.
To be fair, I get that Micheal D’s running out of places to make that kind of statement but Young Scientists ain’t it.
Is he right? That it’s appalling that there’s calls to up NATO spending on defence? Yeah, but it’s more galling that they feel they need to instead of living in a world where you can point at things going right and calling the extra waste. They don’t have that luxury.
“It is important that we respond to … rhetoric that calls for war as a state of mind, including the recent appalling comments from Nato calling for ever more armaments spending to be achieved,” Mr Higgins said.
shills would have you believe this is somehow wrong, a bad thing, or that he’s not got the privilege to say it.
Obviously this is something he should have kept to himself. Out of touch with reality, and of no concern to a non nato member.
This is one of the very few occasions I disagree with our president.
They were absurdly stupid comments from Higgins
Nato is a tool of American imperialism. Europe needs to defend itself.
I admire President Higgins and would generally find myself on the same side of the political divide as him. But on this he is wrong, and the ex-president of Estonia is right. We have never taken self- defence seriously and have tried our best to do it on the cheap. But we’re now in a situation analogous to 1938, and while neutrality was justifiable back then, we are now in an organisation which is under threat (EU) and which we have an equal responsibility to defend.
Higgins statement was absolutely true to form of his naive and simplistic world view. It’s amusing to see people say “he’s usually right but he’s wrong here.” No, he is always and has always been this wrong on most international issues.
Bizarre statement from Michael D given the rather important context of why NATO is increasing spending.
Can’t blame him the danger many former Soviet states face from a revanchist Russia is very real
I love Higgins but hes in the wrong here.
So many people in this thread criticising his remarks who apparently don’t even know what he actually said.
He did not criticise the idea of spending money on defence or increasing that spending. He criticised prioritisng military spending at the cost of basic human needs like healthcare and education. This is not some sort of utopian ivory tower naivite or whatever – it’s simply an expression of the basic liberal principles MDH has expressed for as long as he’s held political office.
No person over 65 years old should be allowed to hold a position in the government, regardless of their responsibilities.
Tone deaf comment from the President unfortunately, considering the war vibes globally and an incumbent lunatic in America. Like it or not , failure to prepare is preparing to fail in very real ways nowadays
Much as I’ve always liked Higgins (and I’ve met him, he’s exactly what you expect him to be like), he’s stepped out of his lane way too much as President.
The closure of the Israeli Embassy was his fuck up in accusing Israel of leaking a letter which had been published by Tehran on their website. Many in Ireland don’t care they did that, but nevertheless a lot of the blame for that lies with this one man’s unilateral actions and words.
Further forcing distance between Ireland and its natural allies now is so far outside his remit, I wonder how he continues to get away with it
Love Higgins but these sorts of comments about other politics is not for the office of the president. Especially at Young Scientists.
We don’t live in a world where many developing countries and countries with different political systems and beliefs exist. The vast majority of the world doesn’t live like we do in a democracy. It’s inevitable that we need to focus somewhat on defense. We are privileged to basically rely on Britain and NATO.
I’m a big fan of Higgins and think he’s class but he’s wrong on this.
I don’t support Ireland joining NATO but it’s fairly tone deaf to criticise defence spending when other EU states who have recent experience of Russian imperialism are so vested in it.
Higgins is a fucking clown, I never understood the adulation for him.
Higgins getting shtick for criticising spending on weapons of war instead of healthcare and education is pretty true to form.
Did he have to push this agenda at the Young Scientist competition. Of all times.
Edit: the more of think of the timing of these comments, the worse it gets. They’re young people at a point of significant celebration in their academic endeavours. And he made it about his agenda.
The guy from Estonia is 100% correct . Obviously.
We are part of the Western Bloc and always have been. It’s the basis of our prosperity . Higgins should shout the F up about stuff like this
What’s very annoying about this is people hear that our president made these comments so they assume he announcing our government’s policy or stance on a topic or that he’s voicing the majority view here.
I’m a huge fan of the President but he is dead wrong on this one. Have to agree with his former Estonian counterpart when it comes to this issue.
He spent his life fighting for equality and against imperialism is what he did. He’s a brave man and the moral compass of Ireland. And in this house, President Higgins is a hero. End of story.
31 comments
Higgins is a prick
Only 10 more months of his shite
The former President is not wrong.
It’s easy to adopt an idealistic outlook when Ireland is the nicely tucked away between the US and UK/continental Europe.
Higgins is probably a tankie, tankies need to abandon their awful beliefs, buy a calendar and accept that the cold war is over now and that NATO and the world back then is different to now.
Of course this could all change again when trump comes into power.
Higgins is good at times but this is embarrassing.
Higgins. The ever lasting two term goblin has long lost any credibility.
Tucked up nicely in the park for nigh on 15 fucking years.
Oh, how dare these countries preempt a threat from Vlad the Mad.
Omg the brigading on this post is crazy.
To be fair, I get that Micheal D’s running out of places to make that kind of statement but Young Scientists ain’t it.
Is he right? That it’s appalling that there’s calls to up NATO spending on defence? Yeah, but it’s more galling that they feel they need to instead of living in a world where you can point at things going right and calling the extra waste. They don’t have that luxury.
“It is important that we respond to … rhetoric that calls for war as a state of mind, including the recent appalling comments from Nato calling for ever more armaments spending to be achieved,” Mr Higgins said.
shills would have you believe this is somehow wrong, a bad thing, or that he’s not got the privilege to say it.
Obviously this is something he should have kept to himself. Out of touch with reality, and of no concern to a non nato member.
This is one of the very few occasions I disagree with our president.
They were absurdly stupid comments from Higgins
Nato is a tool of American imperialism. Europe needs to defend itself.
I admire President Higgins and would generally find myself on the same side of the political divide as him. But on this he is wrong, and the ex-president of Estonia is right. We have never taken self- defence seriously and have tried our best to do it on the cheap. But we’re now in a situation analogous to 1938, and while neutrality was justifiable back then, we are now in an organisation which is under threat (EU) and which we have an equal responsibility to defend.
Higgins statement was absolutely true to form of his naive and simplistic world view. It’s amusing to see people say “he’s usually right but he’s wrong here.” No, he is always and has always been this wrong on most international issues.
Bizarre statement from Michael D given the rather important context of why NATO is increasing spending.
Can’t blame him the danger many former Soviet states face from a revanchist Russia is very real
I love Higgins but hes in the wrong here.
So many people in this thread criticising his remarks who apparently don’t even know what he actually said.
He did not criticise the idea of spending money on defence or increasing that spending. He criticised prioritisng military spending at the cost of basic human needs like healthcare and education. This is not some sort of utopian ivory tower naivite or whatever – it’s simply an expression of the basic liberal principles MDH has expressed for as long as he’s held political office.
No person over 65 years old should be allowed to hold a position in the government, regardless of their responsibilities.
Tone deaf comment from the President unfortunately, considering the war vibes globally and an incumbent lunatic in America. Like it or not , failure to prepare is preparing to fail in very real ways nowadays
Much as I’ve always liked Higgins (and I’ve met him, he’s exactly what you expect him to be like), he’s stepped out of his lane way too much as President.
The closure of the Israeli Embassy was his fuck up in accusing Israel of leaking a letter which had been published by Tehran on their website. Many in Ireland don’t care they did that, but nevertheless a lot of the blame for that lies with this one man’s unilateral actions and words.
Further forcing distance between Ireland and its natural allies now is so far outside his remit, I wonder how he continues to get away with it
Love Higgins but these sorts of comments about other politics is not for the office of the president. Especially at Young Scientists.
We don’t live in a world where many developing countries and countries with different political systems and beliefs exist. The vast majority of the world doesn’t live like we do in a democracy. It’s inevitable that we need to focus somewhat on defense. We are privileged to basically rely on Britain and NATO.
I’m a big fan of Higgins and think he’s class but he’s wrong on this.
I don’t support Ireland joining NATO but it’s fairly tone deaf to criticise defence spending when other EU states who have recent experience of Russian imperialism are so vested in it.
Higgins is a fucking clown, I never understood the adulation for him.
Higgins getting shtick for criticising spending on weapons of war instead of healthcare and education is pretty true to form.
Did he have to push this agenda at the Young Scientist competition. Of all times.
Edit: the more of think of the timing of these comments, the worse it gets. They’re young people at a point of significant celebration in their academic endeavours. And he made it about his agenda.
The guy from Estonia is 100% correct . Obviously.
We are part of the Western Bloc and always have been. It’s the basis of our prosperity . Higgins should shout the F up about stuff like this
What’s very annoying about this is people hear that our president made these comments so they assume he announcing our government’s policy or stance on a topic or that he’s voicing the majority view here.
I’m a huge fan of the President but he is dead wrong on this one. Have to agree with his former Estonian counterpart when it comes to this issue.
He spent his life fighting for equality and against imperialism is what he did. He’s a brave man and the moral compass of Ireland. And in this house, President Higgins is a hero. End of story.
https://preview.redd.it/6pjxthwj2fce1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=b0fd369b0b98f6044d19e1d1e2e14a1846a152e4
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