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

According to the Irish Times today, the Government (along with the Poles) have negotiated a right to opt-out of the charter of fundamental rights in the new EU treaty. The Taoiseach forgot to mention this at a press conference, in fact mentioning that the charter would be a selling point in next years referendum.

An opt-out [...]

I wonder what it will take to persuade headline writers that people are not receiving a “windfall” - an “unexpected bonus”. Could there be anything less unexpected than SSIA’s maturing after years of saving?
I’m sort of interested to see the effects of the maturing SSIAs on the economy. Will sudden access to thousands of [...]

European issues rarely form a part of Irish political discussions at election time, despite the growing importance of the Union for the voters. Oh, some of the detailed grievances will get an airing (the Nitrates directive for instance) but the bigger issues will be kept until we next have a referendum on a new treaty.

In the meantime, governments will carry on as usual: taking credit for anything popular the EU does and blaming the EU for unpopular rules. Ministers generally act as if EU Law is handed down from a group of ancient gods without mortal intervention. Critics will mutter about the “democratic deficit” and the Minister will shrug sadly at her lack of power. In almost every case the Minister in question agreed the new rules with her European colleagues, behind closed doors in a secret meeting of the EU Council of Ministers. Technically, there is no democratic deficit: every EU law is agreed by the duly elected representatives of the populations of the member states.