Opinions Matter Podcast with Adrian & Jeremy

00:00 It's Ireland's most talked about podcast. The only podcast with live callers and live debates. It's Opinions Matter with Adrian and Katie. 00:12 You're very welcome to this latest Opinions Matter podcast with Adrian and Katie recorded live at our studio at the White Sands Hotel in Port Marnock in North County, Dublin. If you're around this neck of the woods, why not pop into the White Sands Hotel? The Oasis Bar and Grill below our studio here is well worth a visit. Great food, great atmosphere, great staff as well. The staff are all lovely. So if you're around this area, pop in. And if you're looking for somewhere to stay... In North County, Dublin, why not pop by the White Sands Hotel? 00:46 Now, coming up later on on this episode, we're going to start another week of giving away... Well, another couple of days of giving away Opinions Matter travel mugs. If you would like to win yourself a reusable Opinions Matter travel mug... Branded with the Opinions Matter logo. Well, stay listening to this episode of Opinions Matter because at the very end of the episode, we will have a silly little question for you to answer. And if you answer it correctly, you could win yourself an Opinions Matter travel mug exclusive. 01:20 So stay listening to this episode. Or if you don't have any patience, you can fast forward to the end, find the question and then come back to here. So what do we want to talk about in this latest episode of the podcast? As you may know, Katie and I work together very regularly. We work together every day of the week. And from time to time, then we work together on the podcast. And in the office earlier on, myself and Katie got to having a conversation about something that I happen to say In a passing sort of way, about how proud I am of Ireland as a nation for how we've become one of the wealthiest countries in the world, which we have, from a country that was literally a shit show of a country back in the day. 02:09 We couldn't tie our own shoelaces. We couldn't afford anything. And now Ireland as a nation is one of the richest nations in the world, which is a great achievement for our country. I can remember back in the day when we had to beg, borrow and steal money off other countries because we were in such a state. 02:27 Unemployment was through the roof. It was an awful place to live. When I was a young fellow, this was a capable place to live. But now it's the exact opposite. It's a great place to live. We have lots of money. We have minimal unemployment, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I said in that conversation, and this is the bit that we want to focus on today. 02:45 And here's where you're going to make me look bad or try to make me look bad. I'm going to try and make you look bad. 02:49 Yes, you are. I said, imagine it really is great. This is just a... Really casual conversation. Isn't it amazing how this country of ours has literally turned the corner where 20 or 30 or 40 years ago we were borrowing money off people. We needed the European Union to help us out, to lend us money to build roads, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 03:13 And now we're doing the opposite. Now we're actually helping those poorer countries. We're doing so well that we are helping countries that haven't a pot to piss in. 03:23 Sorry, do you want to repeat that last sentence again? 03:25 Yeah, we're doing so well that we are helping. What did I say? Rewind. I can't rewind. 03:30 We are doing so well. 03:31 Yeah, we are doing so well. 03:32 Have you seen the state of homelessness in this country? 03:35 we are still doing very well as a country. 03:38 We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Anyway, the point that I made was how the tables have turned that from a backwater kip of a country back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, Ireland is now... 03:53 one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And I said, isn't it great that we now give money to poor countries rather than we being a country that takes money? And that is the truth. And my Jesus. Then I Googled because Katie said, what do you mean? What do you mean? 04:09 Well, I knew there was foreign aid. I wanted to know him. I said, how much? 04:13 My curiosity was piqued when Adrian started to go off on one. It was piqued. 04:17 So we Googled, well, Casey Googled, and we discovered that Ireland gives a total of 2.35 billion euro, yeah, in overseas aid. It's officially called Official Development Assistance. So this is money to help other poorer countries develop, basically. 04:40 Yeah. 04:42 In some cases to feed people. 04:45 So, for example, a country like Ethiopia, Ireland gave over 40 million euro to. 04:52 Ukraine, we gave 33 million, nearly 34 million to. Why are we giving anything to Ukraine at the moment? Because it's been decimated by bombs every day. 05:03 Continue. 05:04 The occupied Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip, we gave over 30 million. 05:09 And then countries like Mozambique and Tanzania. 05:12 Yes, Dara, it's every year. Every year. It's annually. This isn't a once-off. This is every year. 05:17 As a country, last year gave 2.35 billion euro in foreign aid. Okay. And it represents, this is what I want you to listen very closely. 05:28 Oh, patronise me. Great. 05:29 I will. I'm not going to patronise you. I'm merely telling you. 05:32 I'm listening. 05:33 That is only 0.56 of our gross national income. Less than 1% of our total national income we give in foreign aid. Aren't we great? Aren't we really good? 05:46 Aren't we brilliant? Less than 1% of our gross national income we give to foreign aid. And you, your ladyship, went on a fucking mad one. This is ridiculous. This is outrageous. We need that 2.35 billion for other things. 06:01 Yeah. We do. Can you imagine how many people would be helped out of homelessness with that money? 06:05 You can easily say that. We have money. We can easily do it. It's just government policy hasn't sorted it out. Okay? That 2.35 billion isn't going to make any difference. We already have the money to deal with it. 06:15 I'm not saying that we shouldn't give, you know, help people who need it and help people who are in need. You are. You actually are. Well, actually. You actually are. No, I'm not. You're putting words in my mouth. I'm just saying we should look after our own house first before we go looking after other people. 06:28 And that means we shouldn't give it to anybody else. 06:30 Sorry, could you imagine that 2.35 billion annually, by the way, annually. Can you imagine the weightiness in hospitals that we cut through? 06:35 We already have enough money for doing all these things. It's just not being done properly. 06:41 Well, it couldn't hurt to throw a bit more at it. There's never been there'll never be enough. There's the education system, you know, keeping teachers in Ireland to stop them having to leave because the fact of the matter is that they fear that they will never own their own homes. I would rather and it might sound harsh and maybe it does sound harsh, but, you know, I really don't care. 07:00 I would rather see the money first going to a world that my children are going to grow up in. 07:05 It's my taxes, your taxes, the Irish taxpayers' money. 07:09 I want to give you an example of how our foreign aid has helped. For example, €330 million of Irish foreign aid has been dedicated globally to emergency zones, including Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Middle East, where Different crises have broken out of wars and genocides and everything else. And we are trying to help. And we also help to fund major charities like Concern and Trocra and the Irish Red Cross. 07:43 And meanwhile, we have families living in hotel rooms. Wow. 07:46 We don't have anybody starving to death, Katie. It doesn't matter. We have nobody. 07:49 There are families living in hotel rooms. 07:51 No disrespect to the families who are in hotel rooms. They have a roof over their heads. 07:58 Oh, you're nearly saying they should be lucky. They're not starving to death, Katie. They can't even make wholesome, healthy meals for their kids. They don't even have the facilities. Their kids don't even have their own bedrooms. 08:07 I'm not arguing with any of these points. 08:09 All I'm trying to say is there are some that are worse off. And we as a nation, because we are now a wealthy nation, are helping those who are worse off. We have nobody. Katie, I challenge you to find that person that is starving to death on Irish soil. There is no such person. 08:26 I didn't say there was, but there are people dying on waiting lists for hospitals. People who are trying to get treatment and they can't get treatment because it's busting at the seams. 08:34 I hate to tell you that that's not going to improve anytime soon because we're just shit at managing our health service. It's nothing to do with money. We have the money. We have money in this country. 08:44 Okay, so then how can they, okay, well then if that's the case, how can they make sure that the money goes out to foreign aid but they can't invest properly into Ireland? 08:53 So are you saying to me, well, you did earlier on, are you saying to me that that 2.35 billion euro... Would be better spent here first. Obviously, you could argue it could be better spent. 09:03 No, I mean, it would be better spent here first, here, like in the country that... 09:07 So you don't believe in helping nations and peoples that are worse off? No, I didn't say that. Well, you did. You actually did. You said help ourselves first. 09:17 I think we need to get on top of our own shit first. And I think homelessness is a massive one we need to get on top of. I mean, when you're walking through Dublin City and you see people sleeping on the boardwalk and people, you know, addicts who are probably going to be in that cycle for the rest of their lives because as well, mental health, that all falls under that umbrella as well. Mental health, the lack of mental health services. I'm sorry. 09:36 Again, I'm not going to argue with any of that. The point I'm trying to make is, firstly, we do have the money in this country to deal with these things. 09:44 But you haven't seen Friends of the Homeless out on Grafton Street at the GPO or out on O'Connor Street at the GPO with their homeless, with their feet and people because they can't afford food? 09:54 Again, I'll argue with you, nobody in Ireland is starving to death. Nobody. Not one person. There is nobody is starving to death. 10:02 My point is, isn't it brilliant that Ireland as a nation has come so far that we're now wealthy enough to be able to help poorer countries rather than taking money wherever we can get it? Because that was Ireland 30 or 40 years ago. We took money from wherever we could get it. We begged, borrowed and stole money. 10:19 We need a lot of help here first. 10:22 So that's the question. Are you in favour of Ireland continuing to spend over 2.35 billion euro a year in Irish aid? Our WhatsApp number is 085 825 2626. 10:38 And it's going to sound very harsh, but I'm going to ask it anyway because... 10:42 You already sound very harsh. Is it going to sound even more harsh? 10:45 Well, maybe. I don't know, but it's not meant to sound harsh, but it's a genuine question. We've been given to trochera and concerned. Remember the trochera boxes in school? 10:53 They still exist. 10:55 So we've been given to that for years and we've been given foreign aid for years, but it's not scratching the surface here. 10:59 Isn't that exactly the point? Isn't that precisely the point? 11:02 The fact is, it's always going to exist. So is it not time to say, right, well, we've done this over the years and, you know, maybe for the next couple of years... Oh, so there's always been hunger in parts of Africa to just let them starve? 11:14 Is that what you're saying? 11:15 No, that's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying at all. Well, it kind of is. No, but... We have been given money for years and it doesn't seem to be scratching the surface of the problem. 11:23 That's how deep the problem is. 11:24 How many countries, I assume all the countries are given something in foreign aid. 11:28 Yeah, most wealthy countries are. 11:30 So the likes of France there, what did they give? 11:32 Yeah, they were given about the same proportion. 11:34 So it's kind of per capita. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's look at the French foreign aid. 11:40 Okay, hang on now. Let's see. 11:44 Official finance bill in France, 3.57 billion. So a lot more than Ireland gives. A lot more. 11:56 You know, there's kids growing up in Ireland who will probably leave at some point in their late teens, early twenties, because they will probably feel that they'll never own their own home. So we will literally, our children will emigrate or emigrate because there's nothing here for them. We need to be doing something to make Ireland a livable, you know, a country to want to stay in. 12:16 The United Kingdom in 2025 gave 13.04 billion pounds. That's about 16 million euro. 12:26 The point is we're not giving any more than any other countries proportionately. But why you believe that we should not be sending money to countries who so desperately need it? 12:36 I think we need to look at, you know, like 2.35 billion is a lot of money. How many homes would that build? How many people would that get out of emergency accommodation? 12:46 If it were that simple, I would say you're probably right, Katie, but it's not that simple. 12:49 Money is money. 12:50 Our number is 085-825-2626 if you would like to get involved in this conversation. We're asking whether or not you support Ireland contributing 2.35 billion euro in foreign aid. 13:06 Much of it goes to really, really poor countries to help feed its population in many cases. Also humanitarian crisis and lots more. 2.35 billion euro. Let's have a listen to this WhatsApp voice note from Glenn. 13:25 I agree with Katie, but if she turns around now during the show and says we support Ukraine, I think it's just hypocritical. But anyway, I agree with her fans. I think you should look after your own country, your own house, before you look after the people's Let's face it, a lot of these countries are where they are because of colonisation and things like that as well. This should be really France and England's responsibility to look after places like India. It should be their responsibility to look after the European, African countries, should I say, sorry, that they colonised. Even if it's 100 years ago, that's part of their fault as well. 13:56 Countries are that delayed compared to the rest of us. So I think it should be a French and British problem and let them spend their billions to fix the thing and let them take in all the refugees. Cheers. 14:08 Opinions Matter. Opinions Matter. With Adrian Kennedy and Jeremy Dixon. A daily podcast from Ireland about opinions. 14:14 Looking to transform your home without breaking the bank? Visit Carpet Luxury Bedding and Furniture, Dublin's trusted family business with over 50 years of experience. Take advantage of their famous stairs and landing package deal. Just €500 supplied and fitted, including up to 16 square yards of quality carpet. Plus, discover fantastic deals on stylish laminate flooring, durable vinyl flooring, We'll be right back. 14:51 The question we're asking is, do you support Ireland sending 2.35 billion euro abroad every year for foreign aid to help poorer countries, to help charities that are helping poorer countries? 15:04 Or would you prefer if the money was kept here? 15:07 Scrooge Mac here beside me, it says keep the money here. We don't need to send it abroad. 15:12 Scrooge Mac, yeah. 15:13 Yeah, no, I think that's... That's what you do. 15:14 That's what you do when anybody says anything that is not of a certain narrative. They're this, that and the other. I'm sorry, there's nothing wrong with saying that you think that the money should be invested into Ireland. We need so much. Like, honestly, you're so out of touch. It's scary. You're so... Out of touch? Ah, you are. I'm actually not out of touch. You are. You live in a bubble. Like, even last week on the podcast, I know it was another podcast, but you said about all the, you know, we were talking about the... immigration or the immigrants in Africa, the 60,000 of them. And you actually sat there and said that you thought they were all going over for a better life or better education and to work. 15:50 No, that's not what you said. 15:52 You said the majority. You live in a little bubble. You do. 15:56 The little bubble that I live in enables me to look to the outside world and realise that there are people that are actually starving to death. 16:03 Yes, there are. 16:04 On this planet of ours. Yes, there are. While we live the high life and we fuck more food in the bin than we can deal with, there are people literally starving to death. And you don't think we should help them. Just leave them there to starve. There's nobody here starving to death. Nobody. 16:18 Not one person. So because nobody's starving to death, then just fuck them. 16:21 No, I didn't say that. 16:22 Well, that's your attitude. 16:24 No, we do look after people here. 16:26 Oh, yeah. Tell that to the people in the hotel rooms. 16:28 They have the hotel room. 16:31 Oh, wow. Well, I'm sorry. You guys should be grateful. If you're listening from a hotel room, you have a hotel room now. You have a roof over your head. So just be grateful. That's what Adrian's saying. 16:41 Sean, you're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Sean? All right, Adrian. Well, Sean, what did you want to say on this? Do you support Ireland? I 100% agree with Kate. You 100% agree with Katie. So we should cut off all foreign aid from this country, should we? 16:54 Adrian, we have, in the last year alone, we gave Africa 187.5 million. You do that over five years, it comes to 955 million. Now, you see all the people, the 60,000 trying to get the same from Africa. 17:09 going. It's getting well spent. 17:11 Okay, firstly, you're talking about 60,000 people trying to get into sweat or whatever it's called, yeah? 17:18 Yeah, from where are they coming from? 17:20 Yeah, hang on, hang on for one second. You're talking about a hundred and, sorry, 60,000 people out of a population... That we know of. That's all that we know of. Okay. Out of a population... 17:35 of 1.58 billion people. 60,000 is a drop in the ocean. There's over 1.5 billion living in Africa. Okay? Most of the country... 17:46 Hang on, hang on, hang on. Hold on. The money that's getting sent over to Africa should not be doing something to stop them having more kids and growing the population if the population is already too big and they can't control it. 17:57 It's always been a human tradition that the poorer you are, the more people, the more kids you have. Look at Ireland back in the 50s and 40s. 18:04 And look at Ireland's birth rate in the last 10 years has gone downhill. You're telling us we're the richest country in the EU. But yeah, our birth rate's gone downhill. You're not listening to what I was trying to say. When Ireland was a poor country, we were spending our 10 kids. Because it's too expensive to live in this country, even though you're saying we're the richest country in the European Union. we are one of the richest countries in the European Union yeah on paper as Katie said look at our hospitals look at the fucking homelessness look at everything so we're not really and if you put a poll out there in your show and I guarantee it a lot of people would not support money going they'd rather the money stay in their own country and be well spent on the likes of getting the hospital trolleys down the people in 5,000 kids in a homeless accommodation. 18:46 Do you think that's good? 18:49 At what point did I say it was good? No, I didn't say it was good. That is not what I said. 18:53 How can you give something to other countries when our own people are struggling? And who's paying for that? The Irish taxpayers are paying for it. So we're giving money away to other countries. Okay, so when you see... 19:07 When you see ads on the television of children literally starving to death or with horrible medical conditions that are curable. 19:18 Here's the emotional blackmail. 19:19 Hold on, but that's where you go. 19:20 Hold on. Is UNICEF spending the money well? Their CEOs are probably on millions a year. At the amount of money that they have got over the last 20 years, how are we not controlling this problem? 19:35 Such is the scale of the problem. 19:37 That's the point. So what do we do? We need to give them a medication to stop the women having kids over there. That population has grown. How can you have five or six kids if you can't afford to have one kid? 19:47 The point I was making, and if you look to Ireland back in the day when we had tenement buildings in Dublin where people were living, an entire family in one room... 20:02 We never got the money that's being handed out today. 20:06 The point I'm trying to make is the poorer you are, the more kids you seem to have. And that's always been the way. That was the way here in Ireland. When we had a pot to piss in, we were spitting out 10 and 12 kids. That's the reality of it. 20:16 You're saying we're the richest country now in Europe, but yeah, our birth rate is going down and down and down. Why is that? Because the families here can't afford houses, can't afford anything. And you're trying to make it out that we're the richest country and we should be given. Okay, so would you... 20:29 We gave Ukraine 33.9 million, yeah? 20:34 Yeah, and then 670 million in the last few years we gave Ukraine. For what? The war's still going on. No one's getting solved. You look at parts of Ukraine and the place is up and running, flying. So I'd like to know how's the money getting spent and where's it going to? Is it getting spent wisely? It's like our own government here. They're telling us that a bike shed only costs 32,000. It turns out that it costs 87,000. 20:55 I'm not going to argue with you on any of that. 20:56 So this is what I'm saying. So is it the people that are in power that are making the money? Because I don't know where, there's so much money being given, but yet the problem is not getting any better. 21:07 So you would like us, okay, you would like Ireland to cut off the 2.35 billion that we give in foreign aid completely and to hell with everybody else. 21:18 Until our own problems at home are solved. 21:22 Sean, can I just tell you, Sean, we will never have all of our problems solved. We will never, ever solve all of our problems. 21:31 Yeah, and why is that? It's because of the government that are spending the money. They're only doing all this because like Pascal, he does it all, gives money to the banks and all because they get looked after when they go to different jobs. 21:41 Stay with me for a second, please. 085-825-2626 is our WhatsApp number if you would like to get involved in this conversation. Let me go to line two. Anthony, you're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Anthony? I'm all right. How are you? Good, thanks, Anthony. 21:58 I feel like a lone wolf here because I feel like I'm... 22:02 On my own here, what's your view on this? A lot of people reading our comments are saying we should not be sending anything abroad. 22:11 Well, I agree with you, Adrian. One thousand percent and all these idiots who are saying we shouldn't help other countries. Do they not see what's happening in Sudan, for example? People are on the brink of famine with the civil war, the atrocities by the or rapid support forces in Al Faso where thousands were massacred in just a few weeks. 22:36 It was an AIDS center. They killed thousands of innocent people who were left to just eating animal feed to survive at that point before the massacre happened. If you have these idiots who don't want us to help other countries in need, if we don't, then those deaths are on our hands. 22:56 Sorry Anto, do you not think that we have our own problems here, seriously, that need to be sorted? Do you not think we need to be looking at our issues closer to home and be thinking what can we do to make Ireland a better country for the children who are growing up in it at the moment? 23:13 I think we should help other countries in need. We can't just turn a blind eye. Well, during the famine, other countries helped us. Other countries sent us money to help us. So why shouldn't we help other countries in their hour of need? To not do that is the height of hypocrisy. 23:32 Okay, again, Anthony, let me just put that to you, what Katie just said, and this is how a lot of people feel. We have enough problems of our own to sort out. Why do we need to be spending over €2 billion supporting other countries? 23:46 Let's see, we spend about €28 billion on social welfare, €20 billion on healthcare, if I remember right. So they get enough money already. Could they use a bit more? Do you have a job, Anthony? There are other ways... 24:01 I'm not talking about me, all right? You're on the podcast. I'm a disabled man, all right? I'm a disabled man. I'm a disabled man. I can't even walk, all right? Okay, so you're not a taxpayer. I am not going to answer that, okay? What's the point you're making? It's not relevant. They're not relevant. 24:21 Anthony, first of all... Oh, God, here we go. The shout not to 100, Anto. Here. Come on. Anthony. When you are a taxpayer, when you work and you are paying taxes. 24:32 Oh, you're more entitled to an opinion, are you? 24:34 Well, when it's your money that you're working for and you're seeing it being sent out, I think, yeah, I think it's fair to say that you might be frustrated by the situation. When I get my paycheck every month and I look down and I see that lovely big figure gone out of my payslip and I know that a portion of that is gone, you know, away. 24:49 A tiny portion, if I can just say. Doesn't matter, doesn't matter. 24:52 When there's people, children living in hotel rooms who can't even have a home-cooked, wholesome, healthy meal, they're living off takeaway, which, by the way, is going to be a health issue in itself in about 20 years' time. All the children who can't get proper meals and stuff were already facing an epidemic of childhood obesity here in Ireland. Parents can't even cook for their kids, cook healthy meals for their kids, which I think is a massive issue. I think that's a huge issue. And kids don't even have their own bedroom. They don't even have privacy. You don't think that that would screw up a child mentally in the long term. And then when that child is screwed up as a result of the government's failure, there's nowhere for them to go because the government have failed so much that even the follow up system, the mental health system is fucked. 25:30 I'm not arguing with any of what you've just said. However, there are people on this planet that are 10 times worse off. That's the only argument. And that's your point, Anthony, isn't it? 25:41 Yes, there's a lot more people who are in need who are going through a lot worse than we are. Like I mentioned about Sudan and Ethiopia could soon be in war again, for example. Other places are at water, going through a lot of hardship. Why shouldn't we help those in need? And plus, a lot of those countries already have a lot of money cut off. That bastard Trump cut off USA to those countries. That piece of garbage. 26:09 Let me ask a question, right? And Karen says, Kate, everyone is a taxpayer. No, Karen, not really. Not everyone's a taxpayer. No. 26:17 The way you're saying that, Anthony, because he can't work, isn't entitled to an opinion on it. 26:22 I didn't say it like that. That's such a fucking horrible opinion. That's such a horrible thing to say to a disabled man. Well, Anthony, first of all, I didn't know you were disabled, right? Second of all, I do think that taxpayers... Sorry, just one second. I'm still actually talking. I do believe that taxpayers should... When you're paying, when it's your money that you're working for, that's going into the system, that's funding everything, because without the taxpayer, Anthony, let's face it, there's a lot of people who wouldn't have anything. I'm not talking about people with disabilities. I'm talking about lazy fuckers who don't want to work, for example. I'm talking about people who think that they can do nothing and get everything. 26:55 So when you are going up and going to work every day and it's taxes being taken out of your wages, taxes that you could use, by the way. 27:01 You do kind of look at it and think, well, you know, this isn't really fair. This is my taxes. I would prefer it seeing it being invested into a country that will make into Ireland so that my children will have a better... 27:13 Okay, and Anthony, your point is that it's the least we can do, bearing in mind Irish history and what we've been through in our past. 27:21 Exactly, because we had help during the famine, for example. So why shouldn't we use some army to help those in need now? Like, we know what's happening in Sudan. We know what's happening in other parts of the world. We know what people in Ukraine don't show. 27:35 Anthony, that's been happening forever. That's been happening forever. Again, as I said to you, Katie, that's... 27:39 I was still talking, Katie, and you talked all to me, okay? The war in Sudan only broke out in 2023. So that's only a few years ago. It's recent. 27:51 But Katie, you literally want us to turn a blind eye to what's going on elsewhere in the world. If you think, by the way, Katie, if you think we have problems here in Ireland, and we do, they're nothing. They pale into absolute insignificance compared to some of the countries and some of the problems in some Sahara in Africa. They still have a roof over their heads. 28:15 Hang on a second. Is their mental health any less significant than somebody in Africa's? 28:21 Sean, Anthony believes that we should continue to spend money on foreign aid, bearing in mind the history of this nation of ours. 28:29 We're living in the past. What happened years ago, we're now in the present. This country has gone to the dogs. So in my eyes, I wouldn't be sending as much money as we are over to different countries. 28:41 Sorry, I don't know who that was. That was my sister. She was right next to me, hearing what was going on. 28:57 It's my sister. 28:58 I'm your sister here and I paid me taxes on me. I got nothing for nothing. Me and me husband always worked and we got nothing. So like in fairness now we paid all our taxes. So you still think it's alright to turn millions away? My brother especially is and he's like, you know, we're paying taxes for him and for myself. Now my husband died. No one has a problem. 29:19 No one has a problem paying taxes for the likes of your brother that needs it. You know what I mean? In his own country. That's grand. He probably worked for so many years his life and paid into the taxes. No one's complaining about that. But the problem is here. Look at our hospitals. Look at everything. The homeless. 5,000 kids in a bleeding accommodation. You think that's all right to send millions away when we can't fix our own problems? Seriously. You need to give your head a shake if you think it's okay. 29:44 But Mike was in his home and it's got... 20 years in town, in Dublin town, and he's terrified to go in now because of the carry-on. What do you mean he's terrified to go in? 29:53 Because there are people who keep harassing the Muslim sisters of Oya, the racists who keep harassing them. My cousin provides security for them. 30:06 That's disgraceful. That is disgraceful and nobody's saying that that's right. Anybody out feeding the homeless and doing, you know, good charitable work should not face any form of abuse or harassment. That's not what we're talking about here. 30:16 Well, we kind of are. We kind of are. 30:18 No, it's not what we're talking about. Abuse and keeping money in the country are two very different things. 30:22 It's called a topic, right? Okay, so let me ask you then. 30:28 Anthony, what was that lady's name who was with you there? My sister, Anna. Anna. Does Anna support you and what you're saying about foreign aid and the amount of foreign aid that we're sending? 30:40 She supports me all the way. Okay. She won't support me. She won't. 30:47 Anthony, what did your sister just say? 30:50 That she doesn't agree with you? 31:04 She supports me or she agrees with me that we should send money to help people in need because I explained to her about what's been happening in Sudan because a lot of people don't know about what's going on in that conflict. It's one of the most underreported conflicts going on at the moment. 31:19 You're dead right. Okay, stay with me for a second. I don't know if your sister fully supported you now listening to what she said. She don't support me. Okay. 31:26 She don't support me, and I know my sister bad as you do, Kate. I know my sister bad as you do. Okay. I brought in the reinforcements. 31:34 085 825 26 26 is our WhatsApp number. This is Colm. 31:40 Great show, guys. I'm just listening in now. I didn't really get the topic until I looked back into the podcast. I think that should be cut down to 500 million and the other 1.5 billion should go to the Irish taxpayer. 31:53 It's the Opinions Matter podcast with Adrian Kennedy and Jeremy Dixon. A podcast from Ireland with a difference. 31:59 Now, Bex, you're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Bex? 32:02 Hi, how are you? 32:03 Good, thank you. What did you want to say on this? 32:06 Just that I agree with Katie, and I'm all for, like, yeah, we should help people, but once we're in a position to do that, I know you're saying there's a lot of money in the country, but, like, we're not seeing it. Like, I have a very good job. My husband has a very good job. Like, we're at the stage now where we dread our bills coming in, and that's because the money, you know, we're losing so much on time. 32:27 Let me just stop you there for one second and something you just said. Okay. And I'm not arguing with you about a lot of the issues that we have in this country, but you just described yourself as somebody and your husband who has a very good job. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. Delighted for you. That's brilliant. You are so passionate. No, I'm not. I'm not. The point I'm trying to make is in some of the countries that Irish aid goes to, they don't have a job, whether it's a good, bad or indifferent job. They don't have anybody. 32:55 I do apologize for my colleagues. 32:56 You don't have to. Don't patronize me. 32:59 Listen, the work I do, I'm well used to dealing with. 33:08 The point I'm trying to make is whatever problem you're about to tell me that you have. 33:16 That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not making this personal. What I'm trying to say is like there's people in Ireland that don't have jobs for different reasons. And yes, there are people that are on the disability allowance. They should be getting more than they're getting. Like they're Irish people and they're barely making ends meet. 33:34 Yep. Again, the point that I'm trying to make is in terms of our overall national income in Ireland, we give just 0.56% of our national income. 33:47 That's tiny. That's minuscule. Now, when you say it in numbers, it might sound like a lot. 33:54 2.35 billion. But a half of 1% of that of our national income is what we give away. That is tiny. Do you not get that? 34:05 OK, it's tiny on the grand scale of things, but it could do a lot. Yes, absolutely. 34:10 And in relation, like that, I have two kids and like I know when they grow up, they're going to leave and I wouldn't blame them, to be honest. I'd probably tell them to go. 34:22 The country is, and I know you obviously have your own opinions and stuff, but there are so many issues in Ireland. 34:32 And again, I do. 34:34 Katie, don't tell me what my opinion is. Of course I understand we have problems in Ireland, but what I also understand is that there are countries in the world that have far more significant problems. 34:46 So you're saying they're less significant. our problems are yes tell that to a man and woman in a hotel room who's medical they have a roof over their heads but that's not everything but that's ridiculous they have a roof over their heads but they do it's sorry now but if they're Irish citizens and fell on hard times 35:03 You know what I mean? And it's happening. It's happening, you know, with people who are working that genuinely like the electricity bills are coming in. You can't afford it. Maybe then someone has an accident. They can't work. And then all of a sudden they find themselves in a hotel and you're saying, I'll be happy you have a roof over your head. Like, it's OK for you. You have your house. It's OK for me. 35:21 I have my house. Absolutely. 35:23 I agree. 35:26 All I'm trying to portray, Bex, is our problems in Ireland, and we have many, pale into absolute insignificance to a mother who doesn't have enough food to feed her child today. We don't have that problem. 35:41 Yes, I'm aware of that, but it's not up to us to solve everyone else's problem. 35:46 How do you know nobody is living with that problem in Ireland? 35:48 In Ireland? On behalf of every person in this country. So find that person who can't feed their children. 35:52 I'm sure there's plenty in Ireland. What about somebody who's literally at the end of their tether with their mental health? No, no, no. I get all that. 36:00 Find me a child in Ireland who's on the verge of starving to death. So is that what we measured up? 36:04 A child so malnourished in Ireland that they're about to die? 36:07 I think that is the ultimate yardstick to measure how bad a country's problems are. 36:14 Sometimes you really live in a bubble. No, no, you're the one living in the bubble. No, you're the one living in the bubble. 36:19 That there aren't worse problems in the world. 36:21 It's also simplistic to you. 36:22 What do you make of this attitude that we need to look after our own problems? And we do have problems in this country. Nobody can deny that. But we need to look after our own problems before we talk to anybody else. 36:34 That is just a horrible, disgusting, heartless attitude that some people have. 36:46 having this horrible attitude towards other people in need. If you remember what happened when people were escaping Nazi persecution, if other countries said, oh no, we're not going to take you in, we shouldn't be helping you. 36:58 People are sick of living in a situation where you're on a waiting list for two years to get an MRI scan, or where you're living in a hotel room, for example, or where you can't get a school place for your child because there's not enough teachers. 37:13 And people who pay tax in this country are sick of feeling like the forgotten man. Can you not understand, from the Irish person's point of view, why sometimes we get a little pissed off when we look at the state of how the services are? 37:27 The education system has always had problems, even when I was a child. Okay, so just don't have to say anything interesting. When I was in college, there were problems, okay? What does that mean? 37:41 Casey, the argument here is that no matter how rich this country becomes, we will always have problems. Nothing is ever going to be 100% perfect. We will always have problems in this country. 37:56 That doesn't... 37:58 or shouldn't stop us helping those whose problems are ten times ours. 38:03 Sometimes charity begins at home. It's harsh to say. 38:06 It sounds a bit... Why is it harsh to say if it's what you truly believe? 38:09 Because it does sound harsh to say charity begins at home and we shouldn't. But at the same time, sometimes, you know... you need to be a bit selfish. You need to look after things at home before you look after everything else. You can't save the world if you can't look after yourself. And, you know, when you walk into an A&E and you see an older woman or an older man, and I've seen this because obviously I spent a lot of time in hospital last year, and When you walk in and you're in A&E and you see an older man and an older woman in their 70s, 80s, 90s even, and they're sitting there for hours on end, hours on a hardback chair, and they've not even so much as a blanket or a cup of tea. 38:42 You know, that is wrong. That is wrong. And I know you can't equate it to people dying. I know you can't. 38:50 When you work your whole life and you get to your 80s and 90s, you shouldn't be left sitting like a dog. 38:54 I agree a million percent with you. I agree with you a million percent. I put that down to the extremely poor management of our health service. OK, our health service is given billions and billions and billions every single year. The way they manage that money is disgraceful. And that's the problem with our health service. And yes, you're right. Nobody should be sitting on a trolley, especially an older person. Dave has been in touch with us. 39:20 Guys, can you ask that lad there, Anto? Do you think that the people, the families of four or five people that are living in hotel rooms, you know, that are having Christmas Day in a hotel room, that can't cook, they can't do anything, they're living in one room, give a shite about what's happening over in Syria or anywhere like that? No, they don't. Or the Ukraine? No, it's something to do with them. And then we're sending over hundreds of millions of euros over to these countries, like... You actually think, Anto, that like, you know, people think that they're actually going to fucking care when there's like people, families living in hotel rooms that can't get a house. 39:58 And then you see these people coming over and they're handed houses. Come on, don't get a grip on yourself. 40:04 Opinions matter. 40:07 a daily podcast from Ireland about opinions. 40:10 Now, you're welcome back. This message just came in to us from an angry Lynn. 40:15 Hello, Katie and Adrian. Up until a few years ago, I volunteered with a very well-known charity in Ireland that helps people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Now, I have seen firsthand houses that were given out to people with one child, one child. I saw it for myself. 40:36 They got free education, free travel, free hospital, free medical card, free wigs, free hairdos for their religion, or so they said. And I saw what was given out to them. And I saw firsthand, as I said, what the government supplied them with regarding housing. Now, I was never, ever a racist. But by God, this frigging government, they're turning me into one. Because when I see people begging on the street, and I'm looking at two people begging now, and they're both not Irish... 41:10 And beside them is a man and he has, he's a cardboard thing for his bed and for him to sleep in. I'm disgusted with the government. I promise you, I will never vote again. I don't give a rat's arse who comes knocking on my door. Promise me the sun, moon and stars, they can go and kiss my arse. 41:30 Anya, you're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Anya? How are you, guys? Thanks. Good, thanks, Anya. What I'm hearing, and I feel kind of on my own without the support of Anthony there a couple of minutes ago, I was on my own. We should cut off the 2.3 billion euro that Ireland sends to poorer countries and foreign aid. Cut it off straight away. 41:51 What the fucked up government in this country needs to do is they need to spend the money wisely and that's not what they're doing. 42:01 In other words, we have enough money to sort our problems out, they're just not doing it properly. 42:05 No, what I mean is that they need to look after the Irish force before they start fucking off money everywhere else. That's what I mean. 42:15 Okay, so you would cut off foreign aid altogether and stop Ireland contributing anything to helping people who don't even know when their next meal is. 42:26 And we're in the same position as well, Adrian. 42:31 Do you not know when your next meal is? 42:34 No, I know what my next meal is, but I'm talking about, I'm grateful for what I have and what I'm able to provide. I'm so grateful for what I have. 42:47 I don't understand the point you're trying to make, though. 42:49 The point that I am trying to make, Adrian, is there is people here in Ireland a lot worse off. 43:00 I'm not arguing that. Absolutely, I agree. There are people in Ireland that are very worse off. 43:05 They should feel really blessed. You should walk into a hotel room and then just sit beside them and then just tell them, you know, it is bad, but it could be worse. Yeah, it could be. You walk into a hotel room and sit with a family and say that to a mother and father who are devastated because they can't, their kids don't have their own room. They can't cook for their kids or anything. You go and sit with them because, do you know what? 43:25 Do you not agree with me that there are people who are worse off? 43:28 I think you live in a bubble. I think you live in a bubble, a proper little bubble, and sometimes you are so out of touch with reality, it's scary. 43:34 Well, I think the exact opposite. I think that that is true of you. Oh, you think you don't live in a bubble? No, that is true of you. Oh, Lord. That you don't see the bigger picture. When you think, and we do have problems. I'm not arguing that we have problems, but there is always somebody worse off. 43:49 We've been looking at the bigger picture for how many years now? Sometimes it's time to look at the smaller picture. Yeah. 43:54 So, Áine, you would have us cut off our foreign aid altogether, would you? 100%. 44:00 Look after the Irish first before anyone else. 44:06 Stay there for a second. Let me go to Chloe. You're on Opinions Matter. Hi, Chloe. Hello. Well, Chloe, should Ireland cut off sending 0.56% of our national income in foreign aid? 44:20 Yeah, we should. If you can sit there, Adrian, now obviously I can't see as I'm on the phone, but if you can sit there and look at that camera and say people like Archie's mammy should have had to beg strangers on the internet for money. The HSE could have provided you're a sick man. 44:33 No, when did I ever say that? 44:35 No, I'm saying if you can do that, that's where that money should have gone. Life saving medication for children in this country. Also, Anto likes to bring up Sudan and Ethiopia like yourself. They're very corrupt countries actually being, absolutely being heart wrenching. They're killing thousands of Christians there. That's a Muslim population. 44:54 killing Christians in both those countries these countries are not poor they are corrupt like our own and unfortunately Chloe there are innocent people caught in the middle of all of that and you want those you don't want to see us supporting those innocent people caught in the middle just like we supported the innocent people in Ukraine when Russia invaded Ukraine they were innocent people caught in the middle 45:20 Well, when you look at Ukraine properly, Adrian, other than what mainstream media tells you, it tells an entirely different story. 45:26 Right. I don't really want to go down the rabbit hole of the story that you want to... Why? 45:30 It's not a rabbit hole. It's in Odessa Beach 2026. You'll find people out partying on the streets of Odessa Beach in Ukraine. 45:36 I'm sure you will. I'm not denying that for one second. However, looking at countries, and there are many in the world, that literally can't feed their children... 45:51 You and everybody else are saying, fuck the starving children, we've our own problems. 45:59 You are. No, no, no, no. Let's call a spade a spade here. Each and every one of you has said, no, we should not be sending foreign aid abroad. So what you're literally saying is, fuck the starving children. Fuck the Irish. 46:12 Hang on, let me make a point without interrupting me, because I also show you the same respect. If you can show me the breakdown amount of how much is actually spent on food, other than the pompous wage that these charity board members are on, I will give you that. They should feed any child that is hungry. Except these corrupt governments do not take that money and spend it on food. They spend it on arms. They spend it on more guns. Look at Boko Haram in Nigeria. That was used to charity money. That would be considered appropriate. I love me trooper box because that's what I'm told to do, get to the needy. 46:44 But not to corrupt governments who are mineral rich, have all these diamonds, gold, oil, and they don't spend it on their civilians. It's not our job, but it is our job to look after Archie. It is our job to make sure my child who's sitting on a CBNC wavelength three years is seen in this country. 47:02 I want to just throw a statistic at you, Chloe, and Katie, and everybody else who says, fuck the children, we need the money ourselves. No, I'm saying that. You are. You literally are. You literally are saying we should not be sending any foreign aid abroad. That is saying, I don't care. No, no, no. I don't care who's helping. 47:22 You do this a lot when you talk about foreigners or foreign teams. You don't go on the bandwagon and shout down your throat. Political correctiveness will be yours. 47:31 just listen to me for one second 37.7 million children 37.7 million children in the world are acutely malnourished meaning their bodies are depleting because of a lack of food 10.2 10.2 million of those children face severe starvation, making them 11 times more likely to die from common illnesses. But let's not help them. Let's not help them. 48:02 Over the last couple of years, where has all our money gone? Where have these two billions gone? Because last I checked, Anto loves to find out Trump and say Trump's the root of all evil. Trump stopped sending aid to the UAE for an LGBTQ secondary street. What the fuck is money being the unspent on LGBTQ? 48:21 I don't know the answer to that. 48:22 So in answer to my question, Chloe, and we make this very simple, you want us to stop sending any foreign aid abroad. 48:46 I think we should only give food packages, no foreign aid. If the food is what they need, give them the food. Why aren't we growing crops that are resilient to drill areas, Adrian? Answer me that. Adrian, what you're doing is you're twisting. 48:58 You're twisting everybody's words to make it sound like we're all heartless. I am politically correct, Adrian. 49:04 You are not. I'll tell you how heartless you are. You are saying, cut off the foreign aid. That's what you're saying? 49:10 I donate to five charities every month. Who do you donate to? I donate to five. 49:14 I don't donate to five. I donate to two. 49:17 Well, I donate to five. One for each of my children and one for my husband's father who passed away from a heart attack. So I do Irish Heart Foundation for him. That's brilliant. I also do Laura Lynn. I do Rotunda. I'm a friend of the Rotunda. I also do Children's Health Ireland and I also do AASB charity. No foreign charities. 49:35 No charities. How dare you question her about where she gives the foreign charities. 49:38 Jesus Christ. What is causing all these crimes in Sudan and Nigeria and all these countries? 49:52 Man-made conflict in a lot of cases. 49:57 Okay, we're going to get into the Muslim thing. Seriously, Chloe, you drag everything down that rabbit hole. I'm not going there. I'm literally not going there. It is not the fault of an innocent child, whether it's Muslims or Christians or whoever the fuck is starting these wars. It is not the fault of innocent children. They are the ones that are suffering as a result of these man-made wars. 50:17 But there are also children living in hotel rooms. 50:19 They're not starving, Katie. They are not starving. 50:21 It doesn't have come down to whether you're starving or not. 50:23 Trevor, you're on Opinions Matter. Hang on a second. 50:24 Do you not think that that's extremely damaging for a child with a mental health and well-being to be living in a hotel room? 50:29 I don't think it's great. No, I don't think it's great. 50:31 For a teenage girl to not have any privacy and to have to sleep in with Mammy and Daddy. Trevor, you're on Opinions Matter. 50:35 How are you, Trevor? Typical. 50:37 Typical. 50:41 I was not prepared for this today. I have not brought Sal Padine with me today. 50:44 Hello, Katie. 50:48 What's the problem with helping people out, Katie? 50:51 No problem with helping anybody out. We've been doing it since the beginning of the time. 50:55 Okay, Katie, hang on. First of all, we have more than enough money in this country to solve a lot of problems. I won't say it all. I will say a lot of problems. The only problem is we have arseholes in charge of that money that haven't got a clue from the arse in their elbows. When you take into effect the children's hospital alone is a ridiculous amount of money being wasted, And then you have people coming with the argument of, yeah, but they're in hotel rooms. Yeah, as Adrian has pointed out, we have no children absolutely dying of malnutrition in this country, where other countries have. 51:30 And I will say, yes, the other countries might be corrupt, but the people that are bringing aid to those countries are looking after those people. 51:37 And this is, okay, Trevor, the point I was making earlier on was, if you look, for example, at our health system, yes, it is a shit show. Yes, we do have older people waiting on trolleys for hours on end. It's disgusting. And by the way, no, no, no. By the way, I've witnessed this myself, so I know how disgusting it is. But I put that down not to money, but to extremely poor management. Our health system is not being managed properly, and that is the problem. Would you agree with me, Trevor? 52:08 I will take our health system over most of the third world countries in this fucking world. Absolutely. 52:14 because of the fact that it is being mismanaged. And yet we keep voting these fuckers in, right? And then, like, Anto, let's not even go down the whole rabbit hole of Anto. We know he hates the Irish. Like, I don't even know why he still lives in his country. It bothered me. Oh, wait, because he probably gets a lot of money off the government to survive, whereas he would say, like, fuck the Irish. But we're not going to get down that rabbit hole. We send out a minuscule amount of money compared to other countries, compared to what we pull in. But the problem is, their government is not spending it right. 52:46 And then you have people saying... 52:48 And again, Trevor, this is the point that I've been trying to make. We do have a lot of money in Ireland. It's just not being spent properly. It's not being spent in the right areas. Or when it is being spent in the right areas, like the health service, billions are poured into the health service, but it's not managed properly. 53:04 That's okay. Can I ask you one question? That's okay, because Adrian can say, well, if you live in a hotel, you have a roof over your head, so you're absolutely fine. 53:12 Okay, thank you for touching right back on my question I was going to ask you. What's wrong with a hotel room? 53:18 I'm sorry, would you like to bring your kids up in a hotel room with no privacy? 53:21 Katie, you lived in a van. As I have told you in the past, I lived in a van for six months. And did you enjoy it? Hang on, while trying to get into a rental accommodation, Katie, I lived in a fucking van, not a hotel room. I did not have washing capabilities. I did not have a comfortable bed. I did not have a stable roof over my head. I lived in a van. Most nights I was pulled on by the guys and told to move on. One time I actually slept behind a mint in Sandiford. And then as I woke up to banging on me van, I was surrounded by armed soldiers pointing guns at me. 53:52 So I'd rather be in the hotel room than in a fucking van ever again. I would rather be in the hotel room than on the streets ever again. So you know what, the people in the hotel room, they should be fucking grateful. But the problem is, I will stress this, I'm going to say this now and very clearly, they should be grateful that they have the roof, but they should be pissed off that they're not getting knocked off properly by the country and I mean house affordability. Like the fact that we don't even take rent into the fucking whole thing of trying to buy a house, It's ridiculous in this country. 54:24 But they still have a roof over their heads. And yes, the mummy and daddy are sharing with the kids. But they're not on the streets. They're not starving. So there's a big difference between the countries we look after and the countries we live in. 54:33 I don't think it's as black and white as that, Trevor. I don't think it's as black and white that they can say, well, do you know what? It doesn't matter. We've got a roof over our heads. You know, when a parent's instinct is to want to provide and to want to do what's, you know, the best that they can for their kids and you find yourself in a situation... You know, Adrian can't sympathise with that. 54:51 You're talking about parents wanting better for their kids, right? Like I just said, I lived in November six months while trying to get a company off the ground and save for a bloody rental accommodation that I wanted to get for me and my kids. Because I had five kids, remember? And the only way I could have done that was, as I told you before as well, I was forced to, well, I wasn't forced, but I was at the least school. At the very young age, could barely read or write when I left school. So you know how I'd done things? I bettered myself. I didn't want to sit in that fucking van and then go, oh my God, what am I going to do? 55:23 I went down and worked every job I could get. And sometimes I was working two or three jobs. Now I'm at the factory where I'm running my own business, I'm looking after people, I'm looking after their families, and yet my tax bill is... 55:35 Quite higher than yours. But you know what? I would rather see my taxes trying to help people than not fucking help people. 55:42 But the problem is, in this country, we are not spending the money right. Okay, let's go back to the point about foreign aid. And we spend $2.3 billion, which is 0.56% of our national income. So, yeah, it's tiny. So, when you hear... When you hear people like Katie and all of our other calls all saying, we've enough problems of our own, we need to look after our own first and blah, blah, blah. What do you say to that? What is your message? Should we keep spending that money on foreign aid? 56:13 What is my message? Yes, keep spending it on foreign aid, but the next time the government elections come round, choose fucking back. Choose the people that will spend the property and maybe... people in charge of same areas that they will look after those areas in the best way for our people. But we still have to give charity. 56:30 That's exactly the point. 56:32 But Katie's not hearing it. 56:35 No, I just, how patronising you are is just, I'm pissed off with your how patronising you are. Where's the patronisation coming in, Katie? I'm not talking about you, Trevor. 56:44 No, no, I'm talking about you and aging. You keep calling them patronising. How would you be patronising? 56:49 To say, oh, well, there's no kids starving, so basically saying that people in hotels... 56:53 But there isn't. 56:54 But there isn't, Katie. Have you an argument there? Exactly my point is that saying, well, because they're not starving, you know, basically parents in hotel rooms shouldn't really be that depressed. 57:03 Well, let me ask you a question, Katie. How many jobs do these parents in the hotel rooms work? I don't know. Because for me to get my teams in Ireland, I have to work two to three jobs. I wouldn't sit there and say, oh, well, I have one job. At least I'm contributing to the country. At least I have money to look at my kids. But I don't have enough to even rent the place or look for a mortgage. Oh, wait, I need a second job to rent the place. or to get a mortgage. Oh, wait, I need a tour job to rent a place or get a mortgage. I wouldn't be happy with sitting in the hotel room. So, yes, they don't do one to better themselves. 57:33 And I'm not putting people down. I'm just wondering, like, if the hotel rooms are so fucking bad, why not work harder to get out of them? 57:40 Okay, and just for the record, not everybody who's in hotel accommodation because they're homeless is a layabout. 57:48 Anthony on Facebook, who was on earlier, Katie, is heartless. It's not heartless. It's being a realist. Sorry, but we have issues here. 57:55 We do have issues. Nobody's denying that. Martin. 57:57 hi guys a bit late to the party i've only asked the children in and the first thing i hear adrian saying is there's no kids starving in this country if there's no kids starving in this country why why did the government have to bring in a hot meal plan for kids in national school Answer me that one for a start. And there's plenty of people out there who are choosing not to eat so their kids can, especially in the wintertime. And there's pensioners out there choosing between heating and eating. 58:27 So get up off the high horse and start talking bollocks, Adrian. Take the fucking left wing blinkers off for fuck's sake. 58:35 Okay, Martin, thank you very much indeed. It's nothing to do with left wing blinkers, as you said. 58:44 You do have them on a little bit. 58:47 I'm aware of more than inside our borders. 58:50 I'm aware of what's going on in the world. And every problem that you've all trotted out, there are places in this world where those problems fall into insignificance. 59:00 You do live in a bit of an ivory tower, don't you? 59:02 Before we go, I want to give away another Opinions Matter travel mug. And you have to answer a very simple question. Yeah, go on. 59:12 Is Adrian living in a bubble? Or how big is the bubble that Adrian's living in? And will he ever come out of it? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, no, he's never going to. He's going to get worse. Send us a WhatsApp to 085-825-2626 with your answer to that. 59:29 And you can win yourself an opinions matter of a travel mug. 59:31 Are you actually letting me pick the question? That's so fun. Yay. Do it, do it, do it now. Thanks for listening. 59:36 Good luck. Bye-bye. 59:38 And if you're considering a bigger makeover, explore their great value laminate flooring and vinyl ranges. 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