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

Ahh, Mary, Mary, Mary. What are you on about. Today’s Irish Times reports that: Fee-paying schools receive €96 million a year in supports from the taxpayer but Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has ruled out any change to their funding. So basically tax payers are subsidising private industry that is already charging. I have no [...]

McDowell lays into Fine Gael. Many of his points have been raised here on Irish Election, maybe he reads us. If so, how ya doing Michael. However one point he raises that caught my eye was this: Fine Gael may take comfort from Mairead McGuinness returning from Brussels to contest a Dáil election. But such [...]

Why does Ian Paisley look like a man with a mad dog on a leash with regards to the Stormont attack by Loyalist killer Michael Stone? Why is this a great thing, appearing to be a real moderate by demonstrating to the public what a real Unionist looks like? What a great tactic to insure [...]

Fine Gael recently announced their “radical” proposals for the education system, putting forward a 7-part plan which they claim will future-proof our place as leaders of knowledge. Without dissecting the plan completely, one idea of their’s—and, I think, Labour’s—caught my eye: the provision of laptops to every secondary school pupil. As part of this policy, [...]

In recent months I’ve found myself craving some solid political reading of some description. In the last few years, the only overtly political books I’ve ventured into have been the type of pop-politics favoured by Michael Moore and others but now I want something broader, deeper and different. I figure with all of the politically-minded [...]

There has been an escalation in the row about the decision to locate the new national children’s hospital at the Mater. Crumlin Hospital has released a detailed report taking issue with the Mater’s suitability for the facility, amongst other things in terms of space, a pressing issue given the importance of parental presence for children [...]

In the Guardian blog Comment is Free, Professor Anthony Giddens bemoans the lack of esteem with which intellectuals are held in the UK. He compared the bestseller non-fiction lists in the UK and USA and finds that the latter’s list is dominated by works “of a quite intellectual nature,” which compared unfavourably with the British [...]

Without a doubt the last ten years has seen significant improvements in the Irish economy. However, despite advances made in our economy, it is quite clear that we continue to live in a society with glaring inequalities in areas such as income distribution, health, education and housing. Recent figures show that over 65,000 children live [...]

After the wonderful stunt last week with Dyslexia, Mary Haffin has come out again on education, this time slamming Fine Gael. But there seems to be a misprint in the press release. Here is one line that seems to be in error: This Government has made huge strides in improving our education system.Through increased investment [...]

New RedC/SBP Poll: FF 39% — FG 23% — Labour 12% +2 Sinn Fein 8% –2 Greens 7% –1 PDs 4% +1 Independent 7% —

News this evening that the long Mitchell presence in the Dail will end next year with Gay’s decision to pursue his MEP career rather than run again as a TD. FG sound optimistic that they can hold the seat with Catherine Byrne, but that still leaves Labour with a battle to get their second seat, [...]

If my memory serves me right, about three years ago, the VHI seemed certain that Micheal Martin, the Smokers’ Friend, would grant them Risk Equalisation. The VHI gave an upbeat statement of the company’s financial affairs, stating that it was in rude good health and, with the several millions from BUPA, would be floated on [...]

Labour party senator and Seanad Spokesperson on Health, Foreign Affairs, Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Brendan Ryan, has been outed by Limerick City Council as a litter lout. The Cork senator is listed amongst over a hundred other people who were convicted in 2005 for breaches of antilitter legislation. The publication of [...]

Fianna Fail seem to have found a solution to their Dublin North problem, with the replacement of Jim Glennon by John O’Leary, as reported by RTE. In more speculative news, a Fine Gael source in Meath contacted by Irish Election says that Graham Geraghty would be interested in running for them in Meath West, but [...]

Has any one noticed that the Irish Government has returned to the Silent Lie? That Stardust does not need to be investigated because no new evidence was found by the non-existent follow up investigations that never happened. That the nursing home reports are never publish so long as the bathroom tiles are fixed? The fact [...]

A blow for Enda as the front-runner to retain Padraic McCormack’s long-held seat in Galway West has withdrawn. The Irish Times (sub. req’d) reports that Councillor Brian Walsh, seen as having the best chance of winning the seat, has cited “personal reasons” for doing so. Enda’s statement includes greetings to Walsh’s “new wife Fiona”—one wonders [...]