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

“Ahern said he was not really a gambling man, but he enjoyed attending festive race meetings when he had the opportunity.”
So reported the Irish Times at the end of December last year when Bertie Ahern was at the Leopardstown races. Despite that, he appears to have been quite successful at the old gee-gees.

Two figures from the European stage kick off this round-up. Firstly, My Opinion is back from Germany and is out on the canvass looking for a Yes vote, while BBC European Editor and blogger Mark Mardell enters the fray with commentary on a German think-tank’s report on what may happen if Lisbon is rejected. [...]

Image by infomatique via Flickr

Anyone interested in making an informed decision on the Lisbon Treaty would do well to read the Special Report by the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs on the role of National Parliaments if the Treaty is ratified. Published on Friday, it is a straight-forward and relatively brief document which makes for [...]

Our second round up will start with a plug for myself marking the Return of Rock the Vote, something which has not met with great rejoicing from Mamam Poulet It will be interesting to see what impact the group makes, given that they are arriving so late in the game. Moving from Rock the Vote, [...]

Arguments about democratic deficit within the European Union are always a tad odd, as those who frequently bleat most about democracy, are also those who are most attached to notions of sovereignty. It is a difficult balance to maintain, as increased democracy at a European level (say the election of the president of the European [...]

With a month to go to the Lisbon vote, I am going to do a number of weekly round-ups of bloggers views on the Lisbon Treaty. Starting off with Michael Walsh’s Yes to Lisbon blog which has the first of a number of posts which will be on the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Politics.ie legend, [...]

There are a large number of reasons I will be voting Yes in the forthcoming referendum. Some are to do with Ireland’s European experience to date, which because the changes are largely technical in nature, is a valid reason to vote yes. To a large extent, Lisbon serves as primarily as a lubricant for the [...]

Following in Young Fine Gael’s footsteps, the Labour party have announced a competition with a €1,000 prize for a 1 minute video extolling the virtues of the Lisbon Treaty. Unfortunately for the likes of me, while it appears to be open to raving right wingers, it is confined to those in second and third level [...]

Indymedia has a very interesting piece on Anti-Lisbon Treaty group Libertas, and their principal backers, Declan Ganley and Ulick McEvaddy. Well worth a read.

There are a few people blogging out there on the Lisbon Treaty and the referendum, but there is - to my knowledge - only one person going through it forensically - Ralf Grahn, a Finnish lawyer. While I wouldn’t be in accord with all of his views, his work on this is first rate and [...]

“Only one country in the world has eliminated the shortage of transplant kidneys. Only one country in the world has legalized financial payments to kidney donors. That country is”… Interesting piece from the Marginal Revolution. Hat tip to the Foreign Policy blog.

Hopefully they won’t burn themselves out. The Irish Pirate Review is only a few hours old, but is producing excellent stuff - their take on the de Rossa story is hilarious.

“If I tell ‘ee that most chroniclers hold that the Republic be a landlubber economy, you will laugh the joyless, sardonic laugh of the true sea dog.” So opens the Irish Pirate Review, a satirical version of the Irish Left Review.

Libertas have an outraged press release accusing the Irish government of a systematic campaign to hide information on the Lisbon Treaty based on what they call “an email from a very senior Irish official to his British counterpart” which the Daily Mail published today. Headlined the Treaty Con, this story is picked up by a [...]

Despite operating under the slogan, “Facts, not Politics”, eurosceptic organisation Libertas have been accused by EU Commissioner Margot Wallstorm in her blog today for carrying out “a case study in distortion through selective quotation”. Essentially, Libertas quoted a speech she gave where she said “Whatever we win in efficiency we might lose in democratic legitimacy [...]

A name like Balls will always give rise to some obvious slagging, so with the British Secretary for Education Ed Balls and Jack Straw reputedly having exhcanged ‘verbals’, A Kick in the Balls game was born. Well worth a look - thanks to Guido for the pointer.