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

Since the advent of our 24-hour news culture, I have noticed a marked increase in downright lazy journalism in the mainstream media.
Added to the raging torrent of coalition speculation and BertieGate updates, opinion polls continue to drown even the most fundamental policy issues in this election campaign.
Analyzing these surveys is to reporting what diving [...]

Here is a copy of an email which popped into my inbox yesterday evening.
Hi
As you know, I have been trying to setup a school providing ABA tuition for (my son) since June 2005. Irish Autism Action are helping our group along with 11 other groups setting up schools around the country to lobby the Government [...]

I sincerely hope David McCleverclogs won’t mind my adapting his turn of phrase for my title.
I also hope Paige A Harrison won’t mind my sharing her bemused reaction to the country’s sudden cardboard infestation.
Just what are these posters saying to you? The following is what I hear.

This is getting beyond ridiculous. Am I the only one who thinks Comrade Bertski is making a complete mockery of the rules by stalling on naming a date?
Yesterday, bold as brass, he was able to announce that he’s going to wait until the Dáil gets through a lengthy programme of bill-passing before he chooses [...]

We sure love celebrating things in this country, don’t we? And when there’s an excuse for a good aul shindig, you can bet Comrade Bertski & co will be there chucking confetti.
It doesn’t have to be a traditional cause for celebration either. Even the 90th anniversary of something is a candidate for breaking [...]

As always, I struggle with a feeling that I’m somehow not entitled to stick my toe into the murky waters that comprises the political landscape in the six counties because I have no idea what the “sit-EE-ation” is really like up there.
Of course, that will never stop me chucking in my two cents’ worth anyway!
The [...]

Where can I start the bidding, lads?
Do I hear lower taxes to opening things up, gentlemen? Anyone? Ah, yes, we have an opening bid of lower taxes from…hang, on – is that you, Mr Rabbitte? Are you serious?
OK then…we have lower taxes to get things going, any advance on that?

I thought I’d celebrate this blog’s success in the nominations for the Irish Blog Awards by republishing a post that got me on the shortlist for best blog post last year. I guess the lyrics also have a revelance to the upcoming election as well, so hopefully I get away with not having anything [...]

OK – time to nail my colours to the mast. There are many politicians I dislike, but there are few for whom I hold little or no respect. Of those few, bottom of the pile has to be Micheál “The Chicken” Martin.
For me, he epitomises all that is wrong with Irish politics, particularly the stereotypical [...]

Let’s take it as a given that from now until May, any time a politician opens his or her gob, they’re canvassing for votes.
If that’s the case, how does all this talk about drink-link buses make you feel?
I’m sick of media headlines about the so-called “death of rural Ireland”. Am I the only one who [...]

Before I say anything negative about the events of last Sunday, I’d like to make it perfectly clear that in the grand scheme of things I do recognize that the outcome was a good thing for the peace process.
I do, however, have some concerns, for what they’re worth.
Let’s remember that the Good Friday Agreement was [...]

Last week I compared the media’s coverage of the upcoming election to the TV game show “Deal Or No Deal”. Looking at Comrade Bertski’s “new” National Development Plan, it looks as though he’s more of a fan of “The Price Is Right”.
It’s an unbelievable exercise in political spin. A large chunk of the [...]

Let’s play a game shall we?
Lots of different boxes. In each one, a different permutation of parties after the upcoming Genreal Election.
You can choose a particular box to eliminate it from the game. If it’s red, then you have gotten rid of a good outcome for the country. If it’s blue, you have spared yourself [...]

I reckon anyone like me who was hoping that this year’s election would bring forward a tidal wave of change to our political climate will be banging their heads off walls in frustration with recent events in the Fine Gael party.

Please excuse me if I’m being naïve here. I’m just trying to get my head around the whole voter registration situation, or should I say the lack of it.
As I see it, most people in this jurisdiction are born in a maternity ward. Should their guardians wish to obtain their birth certificate, they simply [...]

I used to work as manager of one of a chain of stores in and around Dublin. If the MD ever went into a store and saw something he didn’t like, his reaction was always the same.
Right after giving the offending manager—yes, I’ll admit it was me a couple of times—a good bollocking, he would [...]