Member Info for torquay

You never fail to insinuate the word "Mainland" into the discussion - I guess you will just have to get used to another title when posting - after the lights are switched off. Another tough day for Theresa - must feel like being ravished - talk about Perfidious Albion. Good luck all.

Quite right they are dim - the edifice is crumbling whilst they fiddle, wondering what to do in their search for cheap money. The invention of compulsory contributions to a pension scheme isn't working because there so many other demands on young peoples incomes - before we talk about their jobs disappearing. They should take the despatch box off Boris - and hand him a club so that his knuckles don't scrape on the ground. Hold on me boyo's we are not over the worst yet.

Can't settle in Kerry or Limerick and I can't be without her so there we are. Good luck all - spending the weekend "camping" with my grandsons - well tomorrow anyway.Will offer it up as a penance.

Have been amazed since I got here at the miss-match between the statistics and the reality - three cups of coffee £7.50 softee ice cream rubbish £3.25. Houses including rubbish are nearly always bought for cash - we have bid so far on three houses now four with two this week. The first did not complete because the owner could not decide where to go after his dog died. He is from Derry with a daughter in Penzance and has worked all over the world, the property which we wanted to buy last November was ideal for our purpose so we put our offer on - no luck.The property has been on the market for so long that his wife bought her own property and moved out three weeks ago now he's really confused because we have withdrawn our offer and bid on two more houses after being outbid on another. In view of all this, can anyone explain how this little place enjoys such a robust economy when compared with Torquay, every time the sun comes out the place teems with people from here and across the border. We see plates from nearly every county in Ireland (south that is) and Dublin cars almost make this a suburb of the capital. The motorway is wonderful for them and for us - Dublin is one hour forty minutes away if you set off early enough. There has always been a black economy in the south - that's how things work, but I am convinced that its first cousin is alive and very well here too - even after Carillion. There is no other way to explain the prosperity here - the Sunday collection never falls below £3,500 in spite of there often being a second collection here which has never been reported at less than £2,000. The shops here really buzz and we have a good spread of specialist shops: 3 Jewellers, 5 ladies fashion shops, a Department store YES a department store, 2 Shoe shops that carry a terrific range of ladies shoes and BLING ones. Strangely only one independent Mobile phone shop along with a few charity shops topped off with and amazing number of cafes and restaurants which seem to be full nearly all the time.We have quite a few hairdressers a dry cleaners some good pubs of course 5 Pharmacy's a Post Office a Bank and a Credit Union. Downpatrick is the administrative centre with its two Cathedrals but really it is only trotting after here - the cars are all good and much newer than Torquay, here there are loads of Mercs among other prestige cars and you need an invitation to join the golf club. Daylight lasts longer of course but the temperatures are a bit fresher than the West Country. I am saying all this and there is no administration here or officers in the PSNI barracks these days but the economy rolls on regardless. If Brexit happens it must have an effect of which there is no sign as yet. Yes Martin I am finding my feet here - my first choice would have been the Kingdom or our old village Glin in County Limerick. My cousin has a house in Dingle which he was allowed to build and he loves it down there - the

Have settled in Down so far - have been engaged in the recreational pastime that is buying property here - we intended settling in Wexford around Gorey but could not find anything to suit us so visited here and loved it. The Parish church here is named after the The Assumption of Our Lady, as was our parish in Torquay - the climate is not as good as Torquay, but that may just be this year because the natives seem to live for ever. We buried a lady today who was 104 so it can't be all bad. Haven't played much golf so far, because I want to get the Colleen settled first, plan to play a couple of times next week though so far so good. Good luck all.

Haven't been on Lloyds for ages but will have a look in - I tire very quickly when the Empire Re-Builders are blowing on the dead embers.

They could offer to be debt collectors for the German banks in Italy, being offshore would be a distinct advantage when you think who else may be handling the money. They could offer to take over the accounting function for some of our Mega Global entities, this would reduce their overheads, and BOI could charge them. Since both of these are pure and idle speculation, without any hope of being realised we have to hope that in an economy that is doing well -"they tell me" - a dramatic improvement in efficiency WILL BE ACHIEVED - yeh right. The stock market is up today, so something is happening - good the read Mr Mac again. good luck all - off to bed now.....

Had not appreciated the German exposure to Italian debt financing - would not even have expected that - the Germans are usually reliable when it comes to investments. Good job they "HAD" plenty of money - hope their balance of payments is still in surplus or we might be looking at game over. Who knew Kim Jon Un liked golf or did Trump promise to teach him. Good luck all - had a good day myself at Warren Point - nice track.

Had a look at the article and have to admit there's a lot of words - haven't heard her speak yet but already understand how she got the job - fine looking girl, almost a colleen. I lost interest when the word "cuts" was introduced into the article - from my personal experience, it is not cuts they should looking at but replacing some of the dead and dispirited wood that I have encountered since coming home. Is it not enough that these modern day bean counters and asset strippers have wrought serious if not fatal damage to the UK economy as it now seems to be folding like a pack of cards. These youngsters with their MBA's have had a great time for the last ten years starting news businesses "start ups" which seem mostly to be guided by the same principals as mending a puncture. The High Street was abandoned twenty years ago, but the stores remained. Parking charges were levied on motorists, who took off to the shopping malls and out of town hypermarkets, greatly increasing the overheads of the chains that were enlarged with extra staff and consequent increased inventory. We are now told that Click and Collect is the answer, that we should all be shopping on-line. It has finally dawned that it is possible to trade with far less stock from one centre and achieve a much more rapid turnover of stock, based on the smaller volumes that you are required to stock and replace. This makes it possible first to shave margins much like supermarkets, because you benefit initially from the faster stock turn, when set against the lower overhead. Once this becomes the norm, the first casualty is choice amongst the assorted brands, followed fairly quickly by a marked reduction in quality as competitive pressure increases. Then they start cutting overheads and head count, as they have been doing for years. In a business like Debenham's and many of the other old names, which had been well run and usually backed by realistic assets (freeholds). The freeholds were realised and replaced with onerous commitments, at a time when competition was pretty cut throat due to the excess capacity created, nobody noticed because everybody who wished could have a few credit cards. The directors awarded themselves a bonus from this one off bonanza and everyone was delirious - for a while !!! Now of course credit is tighter, overheads have been increased, (living wage) people and shareholders look for profits and dividends, which can only be calculated and distributed - if a profit has been made. They - our whizz kids in the city - have got to find some way to fatten our scarecrows, before the wind blows them all over. Did I hear somebody say he's at it again ? Good luck all - at least the sun is shining here during a good spell of weather.

Cannot see anything about Aunty except that she took part in a german version of Prime Ministers Questions which I am fairly sure was more productive.

Was located next to the stocks on the river bank and was mounted on the end of a long pole which could be swung into the middle of the river so as to duck the unfortunate victim. Since the person was tied into the stool it was quite easy to drown them, which often happened.

I am tempted to recommend to DCB that the old remedy, where a witch was identified - the population seized her and put her in The Ducking Stool until she recanted or died. On a happier note, we are now requesting quotes for the work that we require at what we hope will be our new home. This time there are no matrimonial complications, which resulted in the loss of our first choice, it remains unsold after a year and the recent departure of the vendors wife. Never mind it's an ill wind - if successful, we will have saved 35K on the purchase of a good house, 2,000 Sqr ft and the quotes for the work required are really quite encouraging. The materials don't vary too much but the labour rates are much better than the west country by at least 40%. This means that I will not be contemplating the sale of my shares just yet, but the Vor Sprung may well be exchanged for something more modest, now that I have FREE TRAVEL throughout Ireland on either bus or train. This car does tend to attract the Garda, especially when I am on the motorway down to Dublin or flying low around the airport on the occasions that it is possible. Strangely I have had no problems with the PSNI - come to think of it I have only seen two of them around here all the time I've been here. Good luck all

being optimistic, because the sun has been visible for much of the last ten days and was very warm last week in Cork and Dublin. Note to Martin - house prices are dropping in Dublin - one house in Dublin 4 has been reduced by 220K, no reason to get excited though because it would still cost you 1.1 Million Euro's. Saw a lot of houses for sale though - must be the vulture funds becoming more active on the south side as they clamour to realise a profit from their Nama purchases before prices fall further under the weight of their disposals..

Breaking out again I see as the controversy rages around the term ''mainland" - my own feeling is that it depends very much on how you say it - if you are used to flutes drums and bonfires "it is that which provides sustenance to those who DEPEND for their existence on the various benefits that flow into the province" along with the NHS. This largely arises out of wasting their time at school and thus condemning themselves to a life spent in phone banks or running their blood to water in one of the modern "service industries" like Sports Direct, that is always assuming that they can even be bothered to get out of bed. My temporary Slovakian neighbour - until we move - thinks this a marvellous country, so good in fact that he brought his mother over - so that he can claim attendance allowance for her, in addition to all the other benefits that they are able to claim. We will see how long they remain attached to "the mainland" once next March arrives and the UK casts itself adrift with no devolved assembly to speak for the province. The sight of the Conservatives in confusion, will be nothing compared to the plight of the DUP who really have wasted their opportunity to make a worthwhile contribution. Like the Tory's they prefer to waste their time and have done grandstanding. A rude awakening is coming I'm afraid, it is not only the pound that is going to be hit,employment is softening also and not just in Ballymena. It is not being publicised but job losses are happening all over the UK which of course impacts directly in the economy which is slowing. People earning money can spend it and this contributes to bank profits which after "The Bonuses" are paid can be recirculated back into the economy to maintain growth in the economy. I note this year is forecast to be less than 2%, which means flat economic activity or worse much worse if job losses continue. As DCB states the old ship is leaking but it is not yet The Titanic NOT YET ANYWAY. Good luck all and good to see a post from X4 recently.

Is this a share or a yo yo ??

Once the Bellwether of the British economy - now it has fallen victim to the morays of "The New Economy" that Tony Blair would claim to have had a hand in creating. What a powerful illustration of the gullibility present in some of our market makers - "They know the price of everything and the value of nothing". The over-reliance on branded products, which it was thought would command a premium when heavily advertised, has really hit the buffers. Customers who visit or shop on-line did not take long to decide that what was being offered was the same thing that Primark were selling - along with everybody else. The label was different and most probably the colour but the quality offered no improvement. Why would you pay more for a label. Want to write more but we have suddenly become busier - meeting a builder tomorrow - we are looking, we hope at our new home with him, to get prices for the work that we want doing. Patience and prayer is rewarded I hope. Good luck all.

And as always Mr Mac contribution is both informed and inciteful - like me he no longer fancies China, which most probably is entering a sticky patch much like Japan years ago, it was good while it lasted though. Now Bonds are a different and very useful option, being relatively risk free as well as being a sign that the market is finding it difficult to raise funds in the conventional way. What is the market without its "Walls of Money" crashing or washing about in the system. I suspect that those grey hairs in the city are beginning now to remember that their primary purpose is to raise funds and prudently invest, it is hoped honestly, on behalf of their investors who expect a return on that investment. It would be good to see more bonds being offered and it is about time that we did, followed in due course by rising rates to a sensible but not extortionate level - say 4 to 5%. Rates at that level are some distance away - probably two years at the earliest - unless they have learnt nothing and again regard "borrowers" as mugs to be hammered. That was the old way - they would be wise this time to view borrowers as their future source of income - they will only bear fruit and profits if employment is maintained. It's a hope for the future but I am quite sure the old Casino Capitalism and asset stripping will continue, where bones can be found with a good amount of flesh on them. The old business of Usery is still alive and still works on the same principals "get them into debt and live on the interest." Now that should have provided all those researches, whose forecasts are as reliable as the weather, with food for thought - let us hope that it inspires them - so that Brexit does not become the disaster that could have been avoided because of the lack of ideas and investment.

When you've looked about you - the conclusion which strikes you is that this share and many others like them (Banks) should be doing much better. So far it is only the boys at the top that are enjoying the ride, but even they are not enjoying anything like the bonuses that they feel themselves entitled to. Small wonder when the economy is in such a delicate condition with little or no opportunity of raising rates because of the effect that it would have on employment. The only way forward is "re-flation" - we're not allowed to call it inflation. Prices are increased in order to improve margins and product volumes are reduced to boost them still further. Anyone who has recently thought about buying a confectionery product, must have noticed how little is now on offer for the ticket price. Opportunity may occur however as the unintended consequence of Trump's actions in Israel and the unrest generally in the Middle East which will last for some years, even after he has gone. It is unfortunately true and particularly now, that America can be relied upon to take the sensible course, only after their other actions have failed. "Mission Accomplished" come stop mind amongst their recent actions - what has been the result ? I think that I would be looking at alternative sources of energy, which of course is not a new strategy but there is plenty of room for improvement. When the wind really blows - how efficient are the turbines - what improvements have there been in Hydro generation, Portugal is well advanced in the development of this technology, where else might it be applied to advantage. Solar power is not something that I would be looking at, because that market has proved a nightmare even for the Germans when faced with Chinese competition. Mr Trump is self-sufficient now in both Oil and Gas - we aren't - he does not have to be concerned with the consequence of his actions in the Middle East where Israel's agenda may yet unfold with regard to Iran. What we really need is a spurt of economic activity brought on by a period of reflation, this would allow interest rates to be lifted which in turn would encourage saving so that investment could be financed. It's not Rocket Science Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbitt got away with it in the nineties. AMEN... Good luck all.

Now there is a question - what direction should I point you in; Europe - already doing well - look at those stupid house prices in Dublin and all those lovely second hand luxury cars which have been bought on finance packages. China - doing its best but the glory days are over. Now there's a start - will return to the subject when I have had some more FREE dental treatment this afternoon. Got my free Travel Pass yesterday - all we need now is to complete on a home. Good luck all....

Considering that our little share has just tripped over the issue price - hope that I have not depressed everyone with recent posts but somebody had to say it. Listening to the politicians you can almost feel the warmth on those sunny uplands - talk about fiddling while Rome burns. Good luck all.