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

UnionistLite has raised the issue of ‘God save the queen’ and the IRFU in light of the latter’s recent refusal to meet two British Lords about the dispute.
It’s not the newest of topics but it’s one that’s yet to be resolved and surely worth discussing.
How can the IRFU claim to be the Rugby federation for [...]

Hillary and Florida
Interesting point on Hilary Clinton’s talk about Florida of late. Is it wise to campaign in such a clearly self-serving way when those opposed to you claim you’ll do anything to win, including going back on a promise?
I suppose the question that must be

Edwards ‘quits’ White House race
It was bound to happen, but some expected him to hang on until the 5th to try and be "King Maker".
Don’t be surprised to see him support Obama now.
So; will Guiliani follow on the Republican side?

Today’s Sunday Business Post poll certainly contains some eyebrow-raising figures - particularly where it shows a majority in disbelief of Bertie Ahern’s tribunal performance to date. But to the probably relief of Ahern, and the Fianna Fáil party as a whole, this majority is not maintained when the topic moves to those who call for [...]

Eoghan Harris almost walks out on TV3’s The Political Party
It’s a pretty funny moment, especially when he realises he can’t re-record the interview and everything he has just said is going to be broadcast.
It’s equally funny to note that while he complains about spending too much time on the Tribunals here, he b

Eoghan Harris is due to square up against The Irish Times’ Fintan O’Toole for the second time tonight when they go head to head on RTÉ’s Prime Time (which has just started on RTÉ One and can be viewed online).
The two came to blows around election time on Matt Cooper’s election coverage on Today FM [...]

Some of the arguments made in this satire piece by The Onion ring a bell.
Remind you of anything?

Ministers told to use Irish in EU business
Shouldn’t they get into the habit of using Irish in their own Parliament before they’re expected to do the same elsewhere?

Bertie Ahern received an unsecured loan for £19,000 from AIB, which also had no repayment schedule, in December of 1993 which was to be used for expenses accrued during his marital separation.
According to former assistant manager Philip Murphy the original loan application cannot be found, there was no letter of sanction, no agreed repayment schedule [...]

This is a story that was supposed to be published in The Irish Times way back when but for some reason or another it didn’t.
It relates to wikipedia edits made by someone in a Government department and was researched and written back when the joys of the WikiScanner was discovered by everyone.
To the best of [...]

Mike Huckabee campaign video featuring Chuck Norris
This seems like a complete miscalculation by Huckabee but it’s bound to get plenty of attention, for better or for worse. Just imagine Ahern or Kenny trying this…

Govt urged to sign UN protocol on children’s rights
Government urged to sign up to a five year old UN protocol on children’s rights - will this be an issue with the upcoming referendum?

Politicians are as guilty as anyone when it comes to misuse of language, sometimes because they don’t actually understand the meaning of the words they use but often because it can allow a perception to spread that may not reflect the reality.
One example of this is the now regular use of the phrase ‘On Demand’ [...]

Fine Gael’s Dr. James Reilly has demanded that RTÉ tell all about the decision to drop Dr. James Crown from last Friday’s Late Late Show which is shaping up to be the story of the week.
Crown is an outspoken critic of the Government’s cancer care policy and was stopped from appearing on the programme after [...]

Today’s Irish Times carries an opinion piece written by Dr. Alan Gillespie (subs req), chairman of the Ulster Bank Group, in which it is suggested that Ireland’s IDA and its Northern Ireland counterpart Invest NI should merge into an all-Ireland body.
This, it is argued, would benefit both Northern Ireland and Ireland as it would bring [...]

Tomorrow’s a big day for political junkies; the return of an Dáil after the summer recess and the first chance for the opposition to weigh in - and the Government to defend itself - on Ahern’s tribunal performance, Aer Lingus’ exit from Shannon and all the other ills that afflicted the country over the not-so-sunny [...]