Very inciteful paragraph there. Thank you for your service OP.
I never would have guessed Neale Richmond was full of shite.
He looks like the type of guy who’d definitely go bust some heads in a meeting 🙄
After the article on Friday about his dinner and drinks with friends after the ‘supermarket summit’ it was clear there was someone briefing against him. Very funny.
>At the meeting, the minister relayed what he was hearing from opposition TDs — who have roundly criticised his approach — in what those present took to be Richmond effectively explaining that he had a political problem, which necessitated bringing forward the meeting and making a big deal of it.
>Other retailers told Richmond that government policies had increased their costs base, pointing to the increase in the minimum wage, the introduction of statutory sick pay, and the impending introduction of an auto-enrolment pension scheme.
>Those in the room say Richmond did not dispute any of the Retail Ireland presentation.
>By the end of the meeting, retailers had given no commitment to reduce their prices, other than to say that if their input costs came down — as Retail Ireland’s presentation forecasted they have already begun to — this would be passed on to consumers.
>In fact, the minister’s statement had been approved by the retailers at the end of the meeting, when Richmond read out the pre-prepared comments and asked those present if there were any objections.
>“It was a bland, asinine statement,” said one participant. “There were no objections to it.”
>“He went into a war he could not win,” said one government source familiar with the food and retail industry. “Prices going down will not be a result of any Retail Forum.”
>Richmond had been one of Varadkar’s earliest and strongest supporters when he was plotting to take over from Enda Kenny seven years ago. However, Fine Gael colleagues say the Dublin Rathdown TD was furious at initially being overlooked for a junior ministerial job last December.
Is there a more stereotypical Blueshirt out there than Neale Richmond? He’s honestly like a caricature. With the Commonwealth nonsense and attending Orange marches it’s just too on the nose.
I know this lad and some of the “younger” FG guys of that cohort through friends back in the day.
Some of these lads would break your heart, career politicians, a mix of greedy, stupid, egotistical and some hold very conservative views and have snobbish attitudes. I won’t ever vote for this lad or a party that has him unless he changes his ways.
Looking for a neoliberal solution to a neoliberal problem…
Just bring in price caps asap.
This is the problem we have now. Government with no backbone unless it’s screwing ordinary people over.
The crux of this article is he basically went into this meeting apologising for having to call retailers out. And it’s the same with the tech companies. Too afraid to call out wrongs. The fact he sought their comments or approval for his pre planned statement is ridiculous.
They’re basically laughing at him.
“Thanks very much for stopping by, Neal, now fuck off”.
No idea ‘Retail Minister’ was an actual ministerial role
Wouldn’t expect anything less.
What a big blubbering pussy
Can’t believe FG were proposing price caps on groceries. They are supposed to be the centre right party and they are espousing policies you would see in Venezuela.
Also, were they not the ones who passed a requirement for alcohol prices to go up?
12 comments
Very inciteful paragraph there. Thank you for your service OP.
I never would have guessed Neale Richmond was full of shite.
He looks like the type of guy who’d definitely go bust some heads in a meeting 🙄
After the article on Friday about his dinner and drinks with friends after the ‘supermarket summit’ it was clear there was someone briefing against him. Very funny.
>At the meeting, the minister relayed what he was hearing from opposition TDs — who have roundly criticised his approach — in what those present took to be Richmond effectively explaining that he had a political problem, which necessitated bringing forward the meeting and making a big deal of it.
>Other retailers told Richmond that government policies had increased their costs base, pointing to the increase in the minimum wage, the introduction of statutory sick pay, and the impending introduction of an auto-enrolment pension scheme.
>Those in the room say Richmond did not dispute any of the Retail Ireland presentation.
>By the end of the meeting, retailers had given no commitment to reduce their prices, other than to say that if their input costs came down — as Retail Ireland’s presentation forecasted they have already begun to — this would be passed on to consumers.
>In fact, the minister’s statement had been approved by the retailers at the end of the meeting, when Richmond read out the pre-prepared comments and asked those present if there were any objections.
>“It was a bland, asinine statement,” said one participant. “There were no objections to it.”
>“He went into a war he could not win,” said one government source familiar with the food and retail industry. “Prices going down will not be a result of any Retail Forum.”
>Richmond had been one of Varadkar’s earliest and strongest supporters when he was plotting to take over from Enda Kenny seven years ago. However, Fine Gael colleagues say the Dublin Rathdown TD was furious at initially being overlooked for a junior ministerial job last December.
Is there a more stereotypical Blueshirt out there than Neale Richmond? He’s honestly like a caricature. With the Commonwealth nonsense and attending Orange marches it’s just too on the nose.
I know this lad and some of the “younger” FG guys of that cohort through friends back in the day.
Some of these lads would break your heart, career politicians, a mix of greedy, stupid, egotistical and some hold very conservative views and have snobbish attitudes. I won’t ever vote for this lad or a party that has him unless he changes his ways.
Looking for a neoliberal solution to a neoliberal problem…
Just bring in price caps asap.
This is the problem we have now. Government with no backbone unless it’s screwing ordinary people over.
The crux of this article is he basically went into this meeting apologising for having to call retailers out. And it’s the same with the tech companies. Too afraid to call out wrongs. The fact he sought their comments or approval for his pre planned statement is ridiculous.
They’re basically laughing at him.
“Thanks very much for stopping by, Neal, now fuck off”.
No idea ‘Retail Minister’ was an actual ministerial role
Wouldn’t expect anything less.
What a big blubbering pussy
Can’t believe FG were proposing price caps on groceries. They are supposed to be the centre right party and they are espousing policies you would see in Venezuela.
Also, were they not the ones who passed a requirement for alcohol prices to go up?