Be careful what you wish for!!

irishjohn

rjr1 wrote: »

Most people I know couldn't care less about local politics. I am more interested in topics such as investment, new jobs, interest rates, etc.

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The big problem is that politics is central to the progress or lack of it in all the topics you mention. Unless people take an interest in politics and use their vote well then we will continue to have an enforced coalition who will spend too much time focussed on the issues which maintain or grow their individual party strength and thus will continue to pull against their coalition partners.

irishjohn

saverbuyer wrote: »

Christ John, it's not that bad.

Certainly not bad enough to warrant "escaping" to England.

Well of my 6 decades so far, three of them were spent in England, where I had the opportunity to develop a lucrative career, live in a totally mixed faith area, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim experience liberty and protest peacefully about issues which really affected the way people could live their lives.

Travel was easier and cheaper, choices wider for leisure and entertainment. So I have to say I would escape any time I could.

irishjohn

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

Surely it's the politicians who are cut from the same cloth as their constituents, since it's they who elect them?

Depends where you live in England. Plenty of places there are worse than anywhere here. Barnsley, Bolton, Oldham, South Shields ... Oh yeah we could go on all night.

I agree - whichever way the cloth was cut - our politicians are a reflection of a large proportion of our populace, and so most of us get what we want and probably what we deserve.

I agree there are parts of GB which are as bad as here, but not worse, when it comes to the local quality of life, the lifestyles and the environment. I would say that a lot of the lack of progress in those areas are down to the lack of effort on the part of the local authority and not national government.

I lived in Birmingham in the 1980s and some of you may remember the race riots there. Birmingham City Council implemented a regeneration programme for that particular part of the city which was very successful. Other parts of the same city have never needed such regeneration so it is possible to find a wide variation within a small geographical area.

I think the latest continuation of the planning policy here in NI is a clear indication of how much we want to become more like Barnsley and less like Brighton.

Our politicians, egged on by local business owners seem to want to insist that out of town shopping must be halted and city centre development for retail is the way forward. So they want you to continue to pay over the odds for parking, have to move around to park close to the individual shops you want to go to, or struggle with public transport and lots of self provided bags.

This is an outdated business model which companies like John Lewis will not entertain and so we will not persuade such businesses to come here to city centre sites.

Town and City Centres must recognise the need to look again at their purpose, town centre living has to increase, independant small business development and more leisure and entertainment must also increase. Large service industries should be encouraged to locate in town centres and adequate public transport to bring the employees to work should exist. These people will then use other services in town pre and post work and maybe even live and socialise within a short distance of work.

The large stores need to congregate on urban perimeters with adequate free parking and first class road links.

Change is necessary to keep up with a changing world, but change here in NI seems to be incredibly slow

irishjohn

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

Unless voter fraud is more prevalent than I thought, people elect the councillors.

I would say too few of the people elect the councillors and their agenda when they vote tends to be based on what really should be irrelevant issues.

qwert_yuiop

irishjohn wrote: »

I would say too few of the people elect the councillors and their agenda when they vote tends to be based on what really should be irrelevant issues.

Well that's the flaw in the system. Sinn Fein had to be allowed to convince their supporters that all the 25 year nonsense was worth something. The dupp had to tell their camp nothing had changed.

Result stalemate

By the way Brighton is a bad example. Parts of it are just as bad as oop nawth. Same with Hastings and Eastbourne. Surprising. Climate is better though.

qwert_yuiop

irishjohn wrote: »

I agree - whichever way the cloth was cut - our politicians are a reflection of a large proportion of our populace, and so most of us get what we want and probably what we deserve.

I agree there are parts of GB which are as bad as here, but not worse, when it comes to the local quality of life, the lifestyles and the environment./QUOTE]

I'm surprised you think that. Plenty of post industrial towns in northern England have much lower quality of life scores than here. As for Scotland....

irishjohn

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

Well that's the flaw in the system. Sinn Fein had to be allowed to convince their supporters that all the 25 year nonsense was worth something. The dupp had to tell their camp nothing had changed.

Result stalemate

By the way Brighton is a bad example. Parts of it are just as bad as oop nawth. Same with Hastings and Eastbourne. Surprising. Climate is better though.

Aye and parts of Burnley out on the moors are lovely - except for the weather. All in all it proves that nowhere is perfect but I still say GB outshines here in my mind when i see whats going on.

irishjohn

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

irishjohn wrote: »

I agree - whichever way the cloth was cut - our politicians are a reflection of a large proportion of our populace, and so most of us get what we want and probably what we deserve.

I agree there are parts of GB which are as bad as here, but not worse, when it comes to the local quality of life, the lifestyles and the environment./QUOTE]

I'm surprised you think that. Plenty of post industrial towns in northern England have much lower quality of life scores than here. As for Scotland....

The problem with quality of life scores is the questions asked to award the points.

qwert_yuiop

All right. You're bored. I'm not. I came back after a while away and I love it. It's home.

qwert_yuiop

Unemployment, life expectancy, obesity, school failure rates are not subjective.