Irish Election - Coverage of Irish Politics, News and Current Affairs

It is very strange for someone like me who, I guess, could be said to be a libertarian lite to disagree with a party of the left wanting to privatise taxation, but then again there is multitudes of things that are not dreamt of in my philosophy.

[My mistake, but Smiffy is the author of this post.]
God, it’s depressing. Maybe I’m alone in this, but I’m close to losing what little interest I had left in Irish parliamentary politics.
I’m not talking about Irish politics in general; that’s much too broad, and many important, even urgent issues fall under that heading (alleviation of [...]

In amongst the Bertiegate, there are two pieces which have caught my eye, if only for the glamour of the subject content, relating to foreign policy.
The first is the announcement by An Taoiseach that the country is about to donate E70 Million to an ongoing effort by the Clinton Foundation to battle HIV/Aids. E60 million [...]

MJ Nolan one of the “gang of four” who tabled a motion of no-confidence against Haughey back in the day. He has come out again, this time against Bertie Ahern. From Breaking News:
“It doesn’t reflect well on a minister of Government to seem to be compromised by anybody,” he said.
“In this case, the fact that [...]

[The Irish Blogger Conference takes place at the Digital Hub in Dublin on October 7. Cost on the door is E15 and lunch is free. If you are a blogger, politico or just curious, you are more than welcome. As places are limited, you need to register on the main page here.]
After lunch at the [...]

Are more politicans doing nixers? Is Senator Tom Morrissey of the PDs working for Apres Match in his spare time…

…when he is not copping out on what needs to be done on Dublin Bus, and not providing half what is needed?

Brian Cowen emerged on Morning Ireland this morning, along the lines that he is supporting the Taoiseach. Circling the wagons in time for Tuesday.

In an exclusive for The Clare Champion, Mairtin MacCormaic reveals that a private poll taken by Fianna Fáil shows that they could lose a seat in Clare in the next election. According to MacCormaic, the results of the poll were so devastating that the party has not shown them to party members and indeed has [...]

With what looked like a plugin issue resolved. Sorry for inconvenience folks.

Why did Mary Harney resign as leader of the Progressive Democrats a couple of weeks ago, after fighting over the job just a couple of months earlier? I can’t help but wonder that perhaps she knew something bad about Ahern was in the offing, and one of the reasons that she chose not to continue [...]

Are political scandals getting you down? Fancy a break away from all you trouble? Well we have—or rather Fianna Fail’s party newspaper have (free subs regd)—a 2-night weekend break in the County Arms Spa Hotel in Birr, Co.Offaly for you.
To enter, just send a letter to “Ploughing Championships Competition, 65-66 Mount Street Lower, Dublin 2″ [...]

Politics.ie is reporting that a Cabinet meeting has been called for this evening, and that the Government is on the verge of collapsing.
Wagger can confirm hearing some of the same rumous in Leinster House. PDs to walk is the word.
Edit by Simon: More sources have said something is afoot.
(2)  Politics.ie now saying that nothing [...]

Despite a recent bump in the polls, it looks like the PDs may lose one of their safer seats in Galway West. From the Galway Advertiser:
Most fascinating though are the findings regarding Mayor Ó Brolcháin and Dep Grealish. The poll shows the Mayor doing very well and Dep Grealish not doing well enough. This is [...]

From RTE.ie News:
This afternooon the Taoiseach denied that he was in any way compromised by taking £8,000 sterling from a group of businessmen in Manchester.
Bertie Ahern told journalists in Cavan today that it was a private function that he attended and that he was not in there in his capacity as Minister.

Is Bertie trying to [...]

We’re looking for volunteers to help out at the “Blogging the Election” conference. We will need volunteers for the following:
Setting up:
Chairs and tables and AV stuff. We need to be in the Digital Hub around 9am to do this.
Room supervisors:
People to make sure everything is going smoothly and to address the needs of the audience. [...]

Government Chief Whip Tom Kitt was seen being hustled into a meeting by very angry officials from the Department of An Taoiseach after he agreed to consider a debate on “Bertiegate”.
The Government have now been forced to concede to a 35 minute round of “statements” on Tuesday next, although the Opposition are still insisting on [...]