John McGuinness’ comments
Posted on | September 15, 2008 | 57 Comments
From Breakingnews.ie
A junior minister at the centre of a row with the civil service is being told to apologise or quit. In comments over the weekend, Minister of State John McGuinness said there was now a culture in the civil service that destroys ambition and that workers are over-protected by unions.
No wonder they’re angry. To say there is now a culture like that is outrageous. It’s always been that way.
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57 Responses to “John McGuinness’ comments”
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September 15th, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
Most people in the civil service are about as open to initiative and change as John McGuinness is to keeping his name out of the papers.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:14 pm
Just because McGuinness himself is a meeja whoring junior minister who should himself be culled from office is no argument against what he’s saying.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:17 pm
I had a job managing a shower of public sector wankers for a couple of years. Lazy, whining cunts to a man/woman. I sacked one of them for bullying a disabled member of staff and was dragged through three months of hell, in court and in front of obnoxious shop stewards and the like. They had no ambition, committment or fucking common sense and thought the world owed them a living, often promoted well beyond their intelligence level these people believed they were hard done by. Shoot the lot of them, give the jobs to people who may make a diffrence.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:18 pm
I will make a difference, I always wanted to be a civil servant.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
A job in the Civil Service is always a Holy Grail to the sort of little prick that was no use to anyone in school.
Highly academic, I mean. But no use for anything normal.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
People who criticise the Civil Service are mostly jealous cunts tbf.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
Sorry.
Was that a sweeping generalisation that I just made?
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:29 pm
i’m pretty jealous of them to be fair.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
Huh, Civil Servants… Example of recent experience… a conversation with a civil servant type in St. Vincent’s hospital..
Her: Hello, patient accounts?
Me: Hello, I have been sent an invoice for something which I am covered for under my health insurance.
Her: Oh that’s fine, I’ll send you a VHI Claim Form to sign.
Me: I’m not with VHI, I’m with VIVAS Health so if you can send me a VIVAS Health form that’d be great thanks.
Her: Oh sorry, I always assume VHI. I’ll send you a VIVAS Health form instead so.
Me: Thank you very much.
Last week, a VHI form arrived in the post.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:31 pm
yeah i am jealous too, the lucky bastards, no such thing as gross misconduct in the civil service.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:32 pm
After spending twenty five years in the civil service I can tell you that anyone who comes in with ambition will lose that silly notion very quickly. If they stay for six months they will not have the giddyap to leave. On the plus side, it prepares you for retirement. When you do go out on pension you’re prepared to do nothing and do it well. OK! Back to bed!
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
Replace them all with Halliburton staff instead.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
I always thought Gross Misconduct WAS a form of Civil Service.
They are a bit like like Leprechauns- they never have any money and its only at the end the pot of gold is revealed.
Don’t worry about your man Guinness. One of the civil servants will tell the thick brother who is just out of Templemore that Guinness is after having a go at ‘public servants’ and Guinness will be caught in flagrante delecto with a goat before long and made Ambassador to Stormont. That’ll teach him.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
mmmmmm…. Guinness
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
He’ll get the ‘Mc’ back when he stops arsing about.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
id love to be a civil servent.. just turn up an look like your busy… sweet sweet benchmarking…mmm..mmm..mmmmmmmm…
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
I see Diageo Ireland announced in the last couple of days that they are moving the brewery to Leixlip where they claim Arthur Guinness once solemnly spat out the window of a coach and four sot that’s where his heart truly was.
They do talk such bollocks. Porter came originally as a recipe from Covent Garden Market.
Thought they’d come up with some inventive but deflecting arse so that they don’t have to say ‘Yes, we’re selling off the St James’ Gate Brewery’.
The same crowd sent a press release out in London a few years ago saying that they had formed an ‘Asian Pacific region’. Which was news to millions who’d lived there for years.
The lads at Deutsche Bank nearly choked on their medium frappacallydocious with a mocha-fucka-latte.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
my first job was in the civil service (for a year).
some complete dossers, to be sure.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
Jesus SG, Howd’you escape? I thought they were like the IRA- once you are in, you are in for life.
September 15th, 2008 @ 4:58 pm
Everybody moans and bitches about the civil service, probably with due cause, but apply for a job in any of the departments and you’ll be up against literally thousands of applicants, all trying to get a seat on the gravy train..
September 15th, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
We are all tools by the way… spreading the word of this shithead politican who just wants us to be talking about him.. He would say anything to get his name in the Sindo.
What he says may be true, but his party are running the country, so why dont they sort it out…
September 15th, 2008 @ 5:03 pm
Must because everyone wants to make a difference, as RedLeeroy says.
Only other possiblity is that everyone knows its a jammy station and you’d have to kick the Minister up the hole before you’d hear a mutter about disciplinary action.
And they get free porn. And chips.
September 15th, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
Down here we call jobs in the civil service, cobweb jobs.
Don’t worry, just stay where you are, we’ll find you in time for your pension.
In the meantime don’t do anything, in case you do it wrong and bring notice to bear on The Department.
Always answer a question with another question,( like the Catholic church).
Say maybe and I’m not sure, a lot, and transfer every phone call..to anywhere.
Use the internal system to get family and friends to the top of waiting lists, such as driving tests and the like.
Ring one of the Departments down the country and say you may be able help them boot up the computer, that will impress the auld wan with fanny warts when she comes in and hears you
talking all technical.
Above all, keep the union number handy at all times.
September 15th, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
Over here in the OOOh K they’ve expanded the civil service by 800,000 since Labour got into office.
Public services have improved in that they are able to lose people’s personal data on disks a lot faster now.
September 15th, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
My sister who lives in spain was going out with a civil servant from barcelona.
Apparently the local phrase for them there is “ball-scratchers”.
September 15th, 2008 @ 5:58 pm
B, that’s one extra for every 75 people; we have an extra 68,000 vampires or an extra one for every 58 people. Can’t figure out which one is better. Or, indeed, worse.
I’ve never heard of John McGuinness before but he is spot on. Of course, he will do fuck all about it.
September 15th, 2008 @ 5:59 pm
Morgor, that’s all very well, but what do they call the male civil servants?
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Looks like its fairly consistent all round. Create a whole load of public service jobs and bobs your votes from them for the next election.
Maybe the government should just employ everybody. The way the financial news is looking today its probably on the cards.
We’ll all be public servants by Friday.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:04 pm
El Cuno says: Morgor, that’s all very well, but what do they call the male civil servants?
Just ‘Scratchers’. Heh.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
I am currently…
1. Posting on this blog
2. Checking other blogs.
3. Reading news sites.
4. Watching a film on the laptop.
5. Playing text tennis with a friend.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:24 pm
Holemaster, you should be due a promotion. You are a credit to the nation.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:25 pm
Now let me get back to my book.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Thought you were supposed to be unwell! Jesus, I’d hate to see what you get up to when you are at full strength and operating at vomit-speed.
I’ve a picture in mind of one of those Hindu gods at the centre of the earth with a mobile in one hand, playing DeathBlaaargh XVI on the PS2 and all sorts of other things going on vaguely to do with nice Nurses.
I wonder is Twenty actually an indian goddess here to do a poo-dance and end the world?
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Countries should be run by Generals – look at Franco, he did a fine job.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
I’m overdosing on sensory activity before surgery. I’ll be a quiet mo-fo for about a week after. Reading will be about the extent of it.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
A senior Irish General proposed taking over the country in the late 70′s, early 80′s.
Of course he made the mistake of mentioning it to some other officers and it was all over Galway inside 20 minutes. The only people who heard nothing were Military intelligence and the Special Branch who were too busy staring at the border and wondering how many VCR’s the hiace would hold coming back from Belfast.
He was pensioned off rather quickly and told to mind himself.
Told you public servants get it easy. If I’d gone around trying to whip up support for an open military takeover I’d be in right trouble- and not only with the mammy.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
Holemaster- if you laugh will it hurt? Heh- eheh- ehh.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:38 pm
A senior Irish General
Is there more than one ?
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
Oh yes. Loads. Its a public service, remember.
You can’t move in the Curragh for Field Marshalls. I’m not even going to mention the Navy or Twenty will get the strap out on me.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:51 pm
Yeah I think so Batty. That’s going to be a problem. I have a black humour so I can laugh at most things, except Lee Evans.
September 15th, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
If you can laugh at Lenny Henry then you are a very sick man indeed.
September 15th, 2008 @ 7:03 pm
‘I’m sorry, Mr Master. You appear to be suffering from Lenny Henry.’
‘Feck off’.
‘Ah now, Mr Master’.
‘Told you. Feck off! I’m nearly at level 3 in Deathblaargh XVI’.
September 15th, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
Trust me Holemaster, after the first time you will remember not to laugh. Don’t even think of sneezing. Train yourself now to adopt the ‘bored emotionless’ state of conciousness of Victoria Beckham. Alas, I was too fat to fully reach that nirvana last time I tried (but that was just for root canal work so it didn’t really matter).
September 15th, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
what are you doing online at this time of the night ? Shouldn’t you be on hen watch or feeding the grubs ?
September 15th, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
Working. I have the attention span of a gnat – think I will apply for the civil service. Grubs are training for self-sufficiency (at least, that’s what we will tell the social worker)
September 15th, 2008 @ 7:27 pm
You’ll never forgive yourself if anything happens to lazarus!
September 15th, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Incidentally – my name is Earl is on E4
September 15th, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
They’r putting up safety nets in Canary Wharf, not horizontal to catch the bastards comming down, but vertical to keep the fuckers out.
September 15th, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
Ahhhhh, nice cold beer after a brisk three mile walk is always good. Now to retire to the couch for some telly visioning.
September 15th, 2008 @ 10:52 pm
I am a civil servant. I have been since I left the private sector in 1991 when there were no jobs other than 3 month contracts. I had to wait 5 years for my first promotion interview because of an embargo on promotions. I was then promoted twice in 2 years through doing exams, interviews and a damn good job. I have been promoted since and am currently awaiting another promotion (due in a month). None of these have been automatic and I have have worked bloody hard to get them.
However, I have worked with some of the laziest gobshites I have ever met. Even in my current grade, I cannot fire these feckers. They are taking jobs that others could do far better and others that work with them take up the slack.
Don’t tar everybody with the same brush. We don’t all have flexi-time, 9 to 5 jobs or feel we can sit on our arses and wait to be promoted. Some of us are too considerate and professional for that.
I did say “some”. Others I would never get tired of hitting. Frustating little shits that moan if you do well. Bitching session over.
September 16th, 2008 @ 12:46 am
Looks like this would be a good time to buy a used porsche.
September 16th, 2008 @ 3:00 am
I may have to break up with your comment area twenty, college life seems to take all that time pointlessly spamming peoples comment areas away.
September 16th, 2008 @ 8:06 am
Pickled Goats are selling well at Sotheby’s, but the future seems to be Black Sheep, credit crunch, what credit crunch?
September 16th, 2008 @ 8:41 am
You’ll soon realise that you won’t have anything better to do in college than comment here, B’dum. Good luck anyway.
September 16th, 2008 @ 8:57 am
Batty, your figures are incorrect, the numbers in civil service employment in the UK have been in decline since 2000, one of the few things that Labour got right.
September 16th, 2008 @ 11:50 am
…the fact I’m comment here right now kinda proves your point.
September 17th, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
John Mc Guinness. Way too honest for his own good. Some civil servants are excellent but a sizeable minority just driven by their own greed for promotion and are fucking useless. Un sackable