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As Mick notes in the comments here, we have three siblings to join the brother-in-law/sister-in-law, husband/wife combinations elected to Dáil Eireann. Tom Kitt, Michael Kitt and Aine Brady (nee Kitt) are all elected to the 30th Dáil.
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A second Irish referendum? Eurocrats have a better idea
Dan Hannan at the Telegraph reckons the plan in Brussles is not for a second referendum but instead to parachute in sections of the Lisbon Treaty via legislation.
"Are Americans and Europeans simply more compassionate than Asians?" asks Ian Buruma. Asking why it is that Chinese and Malaysian warships are not sitting of the Burmese coast with food. Thought provoking? Or a bit prejudiced?
Jurge Habermas once argued that the EU could provide a model for a new constellation of democratic politics allowing for transcendence of national partisanship. Now he is not so sure - the EU response to Lisbon is tending towards authoritarianism
Did the Commission Lie About its Own Poll?
Openeurope asks whether the commission engaged in a little bit of number fudging in the run up to its poll being released. If it didn’t I am thinking that political leaking took place from elsewhere in the system.
but it will smell awful
Plus there’s Mary O’Rourke and her two nephews, Brian Lenihan and Conor Lenihan. And of course Bertie and Noel Ahern.
I think I’ll do some research when the final 166 are in and see just how many of them are related to each other or had family in politics previously. Just off the top of my head I can think of:
The Kitt trio
The Lenihans and O’Rourke
The Aherns
McHugh and Enright (married)
Aylward, Kenny, Collins, Andrews, Blaney, Hanafin, Enright, Flinn, Haughey- all sitting on seats Daddy or some relative held before them.
All this dynasty stuff is seriously unhealthy. The consensus these days seems to be that we’re past civil war politics and people voting the way their parents do, but there’s still a large element of voting along historical lines. Bit sad really. I mean, who votes for a candidate just because they’re so-and-so’s son or daughter? Really it’s another symptom of how politics, particularly between FF/FG, has no particular ideological content. Not exactly a stunning advertisment for Irish democracy though.