Member Info for torquay

Have just read the article that you posted - Absentee Landlords comes to mind - expressed in purely financial terms it makes good dispassionate reading. Then I think of all those people swept up in the merry go round of the property bubble and wonder - how are they managing now when the bean counters demolish their lives and capital.

The B B C News Channel and the six o'clock news trailed the Northern Ireland leaders debate at nine o'clock this evening. The Colleen and I decided to watch it, because I had watched the first debate on the I Player last night. Having watched it I have to say that I was impressed by the way that the debate was conducted, the questions that were asked and some of the replies to them. Their were three "girls" on the panel - Arlene of course, the girl who speaks for Sinn Fein as well as the one who speaks for the Alliance party. Arlene did herself no favours coming over as bitter with a smile that looked more like a nervous reaction. Sinn Fein's representative has obviously been put forward to soften the edges around the party and so look less threatening to the electorate. The girl who spoke on behalf of the Alliance Party, came across very well and for me won the debate and in doing so sealed Arlene's fate. She did her best, but she was sinking whilst she was speaking and was very uncomfortable most of the time, because of her out of date reliance on tribal politics. For anyone who has not seen this programme I am sure that it can be viewed on the B B C's I Player. What was most gratifying for me was the maturity demonstrated by most of the candidates and the representatives of the electorate, there was still one of those voices harping back to the past, but it was not very loud and seemed to have only scarce support. The whole tenor of the programme quite lifted my spirits, encouraging me to think more positively about the north but it still has a long way to go. I am going over again in a couple of weeks and will make a point of taking soundings in one or two of the bars on the Ormeau Road after we have attended our function in Belfast City Hall. I just hope that it isn't raining.... Good luck all..

You must like touch typing - what a lot of work you put in there - the Share Trades button would have done the job for all of us. No question though - the share is being played with - and as they say in modern speak. " and not in good way" Must go dishwasher to empty, kitchen to tidy before I tee off at 11.00 - "hard life for us girls," Good luck all

I see Bruce has got himself in trouble again - nothing a small glass of Chianti won't cure. On a serious note however, Wee Enda's moment may have come, to have inserted the prospect of a united Ireland into the debate and formalisation of "The Brexit" terms into the EU strategy could turn out to be a good play. By keeping his eye on the ball and being able now to back up his words in Euro's he has moved, I'm told, to underwrite the North in the event of a "Hard Brexit" - which I understand to mean disappointment for the UK government in their negotiations with the EU due to their weak economic position. In that event the North, which has an economy almost entirely dependent (85%) on the British taxpayer, would be supported by the Republic from going bows under. Naturally there would be an obligation needing to be recognised which could very well result in the Unionists throwing their lot in with the Republic. Not an outcome that I would feel able to support - but if it was combined with a Scottish referendum and Unionists joined with their natural allies the Scots in maintaining their relations with Europe, over the longer term it could be beneficial for all party's. Another straw in the wind blew our way this weekend - my nephew who works for one of the high profile outfits in the city - bought himself a house last year before the vote. He is now having to contemplate a move to Frankfurt because Ireland cannot offer enough accommodation "in Dublin" for all those who would have to move. And so it goes on - the vote takes place tomorrow in the North with results announced at the weekend - from the little that I have seen of Arlene Foster any change up there will be good I hope. Good luck all...

Now your talking - I have suspected and am now convinced that your suspicions are correct - after all who created the crisis in the first place. Crystal balls are for Fortune Tellers, with very few exceptions, I wouldn't trust an economist with the weather forecast and as for the so called analysts and researchers - if the phone calls that I receive are anything to go by..... Real information costs money and is not freely circulated - even when you pay management fees you still lose money as I did this year - in a rising market. Thank goodness I put the real money into property. Good luck all - and Ireland today - many a good night was spent in The Burlington after the match.

I wouldn't be invested either - especially in shares if the banks were "encouraged" to pay interest as I did when they borrow money. How would they then create all those lovely jobs in phone banks and market research - would we still be getting phone calls from South Africa. the Philippines and India at lunch time, Interest rates at 5% would allow me to join three or four golf clubs and take the colleen home three or four times a year. Instead of which we have full employment in supermarkets etc and all the prices rising to finance the "living wage." Good luck all

Well according to my eldest daughter - she flew in last week for a seminar in Swindon - could not believe the tatty state of the rolling stock which took her presumably from Heathrow to Swindon.When she had to let down the window to open the door on arrival - bit like Brexit really - " If you can't fight wear a big hat". Must go, we tee off today at 11.08 - thank goodness I am only twenty minutes from the course with diesel gone up a whole 20p a litre - god be with the days..... Good luck all..and thanks Mr Mc for the insight..

The screen has turned RED - market cap looking a bit soft too. Bruce in response to yours Ad Nauseum was a singer in the Social Club that I used to drink - You would always know his father - sat on the front row with his pocket watch in his waistcoat (On Sunday's), never took his hat off and talked with a limp.

being up it.....

Skinnarney poses the question of Brexit being discussed "ad norseum" on here and wonders why we are not discussing the glowing future that lies ahead for Bank of Ireland and all those lovely dividends that he is waiting for. Well we all are but - any economy depends on people being able to spend so that the wealth in the economy circulates through it - like the water in a central heating system. Brexit matters, because with Oil prices increasing, Utility prices being allowed to rise along with house prices and food costs, peoples ability to spend is already impaired as the banks say. The early signs of tightening were reported today on the BBC and no doubt the other channels, because the people who participate in the economy are finding it increasingly difficult to balance their household budgets. On the basis that "you can always get blood from a stone" Skinnarney, no doubt informed by the current buoyancy of a recovering Irish economy thinks that the same is happening everywhere - it isn't. If like me he had run his own business for thirty years he would have come to recognise that it is not always the companies with the largest turnovers that are making the most money or any at all. Look at British Home Stores recent record - now the government is introducing big hikes in commercial rates, increases of 45% have been mentioned today. For already hard pressed business owners trying to finance the living wage this will have an impact on employment levels and peoples ability to spend spend spend. Or make higher mortgage payments if interest rates go up - I remember in the ninety's paying up to 40K a year to service high borrowings when the economy turned down - fortunately it only lasted for a couple of years at that level but it flattened a great number of small businesses and the people who ran them or worked in them - many have never recovered and some of them died. Now Skinnarney - do you get it. Good luck all.

I am not going to reply in detail to all the points raised because I want to watch Manchester United this evening, I am sorry that Bruce cannot see what we are driving at so I must leave it at that. Several members of our Golf Club are enthusiastic Brexiteers "we haven't fallen out we just agree to differ." Suffice to say that I am getting my properties valued next week whilst they are still supporting the economy - we have just spent the last five months refurbishing them and the market down here is very good at the moment with Londoners and others who have cashed in - I played with one today who has just joined the club. The Footsie is at an all time high as far as I am concerned so I feel it would be wise to consolidate, Good luck all and however you say it in Italian...

For exactly the same reason that Deadcat and Bruce are dismayed at the general malaise which seems to have influenced the outcome of the last referendum. The ones who voted to leave can mostly be lumped into the GULLIBLE camp but really it is worse than that - they really do believe that leaving is going to result in the mass expulsion of none nationals (of any description) and the savings are going to be invested in building a new economy where everybody will earn £30,000 a year or almost.We call them Numpty's "down yere." Oh dear what have they done - who is going to apply some form of discipline on the ones who peddled all the fairy stories. Farage has run his course but Boris was made Foreign Secretary and Trump is now in the White House - Lord help us. Good luck all - am going to look at Arsenal demonstrate "The British Desease" in Munich.

No surprise really when the present occupant of No 10 is much quieter than her predecessor - every week he was off somewhere. The Air Miles that he must have accumulated will probably ensure that he travels for free for the next twenty years. Meanwhile all anyone wants to see are roses and increasing growth forecasts so far as reporting is concerned - public opinion is being massaged, the finer weather lifts peoples sprits, longer days and Cheltenham are coming. It's what follows all that that interests me !! Good Luck all.

Big move I suppose will contend that he was only there to find his handbag.

Lives in Italy - he tells us - Europe is BONKERS - presumably he means Italy in particular !!! Surely he knew that before he decided to live there - since he hasn't left yet I can only presume that there are fringe benefits such as lower property prices (when he bought), better climate, cheaper and better food grown locally and of course the wine. For someone now living on a pension these are all considerations not to be overlooked - then of course there is also the matter of selling property in Italy, which may leave you pining for the warm beer (with no head) the wet weather and the burgers and popadoms which now seem to be staples of the English diet these days amongst the younger generation. The old green fields always look better over the hill.

I think that it was Radar who surmised that Johnfitz had either taken a powder or most probably crashed and burned, which seems the most likely. Always enjoyed his posts and miss his contributions also GrahamD who used to talk about "three brick winds" in Scotland because that was the number of bricks required to keep his plant pots on the patio. Now all we need is for Coggy to find some more GOLD bath taps and get back in the game. Disturbing news tonight from the Ukraine. Good luck all.

And some interesting contributions - I welcomed particularly the postings of Mr Mac and again Fontenoy - there is merit on both sides so far as my own experience personally was concerned and I will leave it at that. My time was spent under the guidance of Charles J and the government of Garrett who inherited a mess, but nothing approaching 2008. I can even remember the man with the big nose, Sean LeMass, who put Shannon on the map and oversaw Ard Na Crusha. They all had a vision of where they wanted Ireland to be and to be fair it has made great strides over the last sixty years, until the gamblers took over and benchmarking was introduced. Salaries in the public service were allowed to almost explode - ambulance drivers for instance were paid 65,000 Euro's in the early 2000's. All this resulted in "painful restructuring by our financial engineers" who I would recognise as bean counters. Of course this needed to be addressed, because of the greed that had been allowed to prosper, totally ignoring the fact that public service jobs generate pensions which also needed to be paid to those who had already retired. What a wonderful magic roundabout it was for a while - and then the rot set in as the economy boiled over. It is a very harsh lesson to have learnt for so many people and particularly those with families, when it could have been avoided and probably would have been by previous governments OR the banks had oporated honestly and in line with sound financial principles - do not lend more than the customer is able to service. ( Stress Tests ) come to mind. Must go busy day tomorrow - good luck all - soon be Cheltenham....

Interesting words spoken by our INDA and confirmed by the girl who has held hands with Donald - I thought that he came across quite well in their press conference and I am hoping that he will be able to grow into the job. Then again this is a man who employs "hundreds of thousands" and reminds me of Robert Maxwell - anybody remember him? Now, speaking of Bank of Ireland, I always considered it to be a conservative but honest operation - over recent months the colleen and I have had good cause to re-consider our opinion. Since our summer visit we have been extremely disappointed with the way that it now oporates in provincial towns.We have had an enduring interest in one of its provincial banks, because we did not want to cut all ties when we left. You don't just throw away banking connections, when you are thinking of one day returning and perhaps setting up a business. It's a bit late for that now but still we were both very reluctant to sever our financial connection. Bank of Ireland show no such reluctance from the way that they deal with their customers - the bank that we use is a shambles - they had no 100 Euro notes when we wanted them. The letter that we forwarded to them vanished in their system and the person who had the responsibility for dealing with us was not even presentable never mind efficient. She had a most unfortunate and unapologetic manner when dealing with our transaction which took us a considerable time to resolve with no hope of any natural courtesy. Allied Irish, in the same town was an altogether different proposition, the girls were immaculate and we could have had as many 100 Euro notes as we needed - and we have never done business with them. Our final transaction - when closing our account was just as unfortunate - we asked for a closing balance on the account when converted into sterling - they told us how much they were forwarding and left us ninety pounds short when they did. We have now written to them twice since November, (Hard Copy) so far there has been no response from them. The only explanation is centralisation, "in branch" there doesn't seem to be any management structure at all. Here's hoping that when real economic activity resumes they will be able to appoint some people who can properly conduct business - it won't matter to us, but it would please us if it was possible to invest in at least one rung of management in their provincial network because Ireland deserves better - it would also make the bank easier to oporate, in the event that anyone wanted to take it over. Good luck all

They have worn themselves out - talking about TRUMP and Brexit or they are all in Mulligans and quite right too.

When I mentioned the figure of two billion, that is the national figure - Sheffield would never be that lucky.