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

So the votes have been counted. The Irish people have opted for a continuation of a third-world hospital system, schooling characterised by inequality and class over-crowding, and the perpetuation of a “cute hoor” culture with significant levels of background corruption and the protection of criminality and illegality so long as the perpetrators are party members, [...]

The following is inspired by the father of Magical Realism Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rather than being a truly factual account of politics in the constituency of Cavan - Monaghan it should be viewed as a type of fable, containing elements that may be true.
The constituency should be a five-seater but through a rather desperate attempt [...]

If there is a prize for political naivete, it should go to Tim O’Malley. He should have realised how rash it is for any Limerick politician to read scripts that are prepared for them by officials of the Department of Health. Look what happened to Michael Noonan. His political career nose-dived after some highly insulting [...]

I know the following may not be exactly relevant to this blog. I know that I will no doubt display my habitual prolixity. Nevertheless I think there are some things I have to say on the subject of third-level grants. This is all from personal experience, mind you.
I put myself through third-level education thanks to [...]

The Fianna Fail Ard Fheis.
I was a member of Fianna Fail for many years and attended quite a few Ard Fheiseanna in my time. I remember, by way of digression, when I gave my first lecture in UCD. The lecture hall was crowded. In my warm-up I said, “I haven’t spoken in front of so [...]

I have noted Pat Rabbitte’s comments about the knowledge of the poor amongst the ranks of the PDs. He seems so unaware that there are poor PD supporters, in many cases down to their last million, who are being crippled by a taxation system which punishes effort while rewarding the work-shy, the poor, the old [...]

Be warned: don’t read this post while having your tea!
One of the great things about being in a wheelchair, as I am, is that you get a postal vote. And this has allowed me in the past couple of elections to indulge in a personal fantasy: filling in my ballot paper on the jacks.