D Friday, October 2, 2009 METRO 17 To celebrate the release of Couples Retreat, Universal Pictures International Ireland and Metro are offering you the chance to attend an exclusive screening of the film, with leading man Vince Vaughn in attendance. Based on an original idea of Vaughns, the comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon discover that participation in the resorts couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. You can attend the premiere on Friday 16th October at The Savoy Cinema, OConnell Street, D1. AT AN EXCLUSIVE SCREENING INTRODUCED BY VINCE VAUGHN! Terms & Conditions: The competition closes at Midnight Friday 2nd October and the winners will be chosen at random from the entries received. Entrants must be over 18 years old. Usual Metro rules apply. The Editors decision is final. SP. Oxygen8, Hospitality House, Cumberland Street South, D2. Customer Service number 0818286606 metrocompetition Text COUPLE, followed by your answer A, B or C and your name to 53133 (texts cost 60c + standard network charge) or email your answer, your name and contact details to ireland.comps@metroireland.ie For your chance to win a pair of tickets (30 pairs to be won), just answer this simple question: Who is the retreat for? A. Cowboys B. Clowns C. Couples SEE IT FIRST, AND FOR FREE IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 16 Passing the buck Not to blame: Ryan Tubridy Tiarnan Lee I, like many others, am in negative equity with my home, but why people in this position blame the Government is beyond me. I know they didnt help by sitting back and watching the property bubble grow and do nothing about it but count the Stamp Duty that rolled in. But at the end of the day it was greedy developers and greedy people who pushed up house prices. When buying my house I knew it was overpriced, and now that the bottom has fallen out of it Im not looking to blame Europe, Brian Cowen, Ryan Tubridy or whoever. I decided to buy a house. The value has plummeted. Am I happy about that? No. But grow up people. Stop looking for someone to blame every time things dont go the way you want. Every ill in life is not the fault of the Government. If people knew where their kids were and what they were doing there wouldnt be such drink, drug and gang crime issues. If people hadnt been so greedy there wouldnt have been a housing bubble to burst. If people didnt take out three or four credit cards at a time personal debt wouldnt be what it is. These are problems we created and we should be looking to solve, not just looking to pass the buck. Disgruntled citizen, by e-mail Orla, the point that I am making relates to the changes in the Lisbon Treaty relative to the Existing Treaty. You dont seem to be aware of the current voting system in the council double majority system that you mentioned already exists and it is not new to Lisbon. Currently, for a proposal to pass it must be backed firstly by a majority of member states (14 out of 27) and secondly by 255 votes out Dublins best-read letters page Metro Mail E-mail letters to mail@metroireland.ie with a name. Or text us. Text MAIL followed by comment and name to 53131. *Texts cost 30cent per message + standard network charges. SP. Oxygen8 Communications, Hospitality House, Cumberland Street South, D2. Customer service number 0818286606 talk to us Public preening: Ive seen it all now. Not only are girls putting on their make-up on the bus to work but now seem to be plucking their eyebrows. You know who you are girl on the 39X. Next thing you know, people will be cutting their nails on the bus in the morning yeuch. P, Dublin 15 Tweety: Wondering what the twittosphere is thinking about the upcoming Lisbon Treaty. Checkout www.thelisbontweety.com and see the tweets fly by! Declan McGrath, by e-mail Timely: Has anyone else noticed how the punctuality updates on the Dart have virtually disappeared since they changed their cut-off point to five minutes? Christopher, by e-mail Keen on Keane? Can all the Irish media please give up their fixation with Roy Keane and his failures as manager. He is at the bottom of the pile while another Irish manager, Chris Hughton, is flying high and yet he only gets a fraction of news columns that Keane gets. And Hughton never let his country down. John Graham, Dublin In Brief of 345 where Ireland has seven votes or two per cent voting power. The first condition that you are referring to hardly changes in Lisbon we now need 15 out of 27 countries to agree in principle, but it is the second condition that is significantly altered towards population criteria and thats where big states gain more influence and small states lose their influence in the decision-making process. Natalia, by e-mail Regarding Tiarnan Lees letter on Norways economy and position in Europe. As someone who has lived in Norway for five years, I can tell you that on top of the Oljefonden, they also depend on high taxation levels, substantial import tariffs, protected monopolies and oligopolies in the retail and essential service trades. There is no comparison between Ireland and Norway. The country enjoys a form of self-subsistency that is eons away from any Irish pipe dreams of similar infrastructural goals incorrectly alluded to by Mr Lee. Justin Deegan, Maynooth Sendusyour txt Tiarnan, we dont have close to the same oil reserves as Norway. Thats idiotic. Also, are you claiming the European Union has been bad to us? Confused, but amused Michael OLeary spent more than 500,000 on the Yes campaign. Surely that amount would be better served on knocking a few quid off Ryanair charges? Dg To all you uptight workers on the Dart, take a chill pill and lie on the floor! The schoolboys To Gavin, giving out about Dart dossers. Were teenagers whose legs work quite well! There are no seats so we use our bags to sit on the floor. Youre getting paid to go to wherever youre going and were heading somewhere we dont actually want to be. We have every right to sit if we want to! Aaron, comfortable passenger Will the No side get a second chance like the Yes side got? Str txt MAIL to 53131* index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html