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

Fine Gael are criticising Brian Lenihan for a bit of news dumping today. The annual report of the Morris Tribunal into Garda misconduct in Donegal was released today amidst all the furore surrounding the ascension of Brian Cowen to the post of Taoiseach and perhaps Lenihan’s own promotion to Tanaiste. They have a point, this [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Former President Patrick Hillery has died, aged 84. Tributes from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Mary McAleese have been paid and there will be a state funeral, details to be announced later.

The press releases today were absolutely hopping up and down to make sure everyone was aware that the French Finance Minister and the EU Tax Commissioner should be given no weight whatsoever when considering their comments on a common-consolidated-tax-base.

The time of the departure of Bertie Ahern has now been announced. What of his legacy, his place in Irish history? Here are some points that might be considered.

Reinstating the popular blog-roundup from the election for one night only to take a look at how today’s news was met in blog-land. Take a gander at Jazz Biscuit too in case I missed anything.
Ciaran Cuffe and his Green Party have come in for immense amounts of stick since going into government (even today, suggestions [...]

Breaking: Bertie Ahern to resign Tuesday 6th of May.
10:30am: Bertie Ahern has announced a last-minute, unexpected press conference to be held before his statement to the Dáil.
Reports on the substance are mixed although many outlets are suggesting that a resignation date, or even an immediate resignation from the leadership of Fianna Fáil, is expected.
RTÉ One [...]

Simon had given the most recent account of the phenomenon: the government toying with days of the week and seasons when scheduling elections and referenda for political advantage.  Now Bertie has a new twist: a Lisbon vote in June, on a day yet to be scheduled, but in the middle of when many first-time voters [...]

“To me, services for cancer patients are worse now than they were seven years ago in the midlands”
…
“I am writing out of a deep sense of despair and frustration…I have written to senior management about seven times in the last two years…outlining how we would deal with the problem…all to no avail”

James Reilly of Fine [...]

While no date has yet been set, we now have the wording of the Lisbon Treaty Referendum. It isn’t readable, short or simple but it seems to cover much more of the bases than a simple adoption of the Lisbon treaty - designed as it is to deflect worries about creeping EU statism. Even though [...]

One of the more interesting aspects of the Lisbon Treaty is the manner in which the President of the Commission will be chosen. Under Article 9, the President of the Commission is to be chosen with due respect to the result of the European parliamentary elections;

The Sunday Business Post had another of its regular polls in this Sunday’s edition, which highlighted some interesting changes in public opinion.
One intriguing outcome of the poll that the amount of people who trust Bertie Ahern has fallen, while the amount of people who support Fianna Fáil has risen.
Critically, however, the number of people who [...]

We know the standard of Dail debate is much decried and poor Terence Flanagan has not done much to help that image. In a debate on the Finance Bill he cogged three passages from Deputy Joan Burton’s speech the night before. Flanagan’s contribution is here while Burton’s is here. Example below the fold, two others [...]

Bertie-hooray, Enda & Eamon-boo. Below is the Fianna Fail response to the gains it has seen in the Irish Times and Sunday Business Post over the week. As you can see, it is thrilled with its performance but it strikes me that this is also a boot that they have been waiting to apply for [...]

Eamon Ryan was on RTE this morning and said that it is time for a full debate on the merits of nuclear power in Ireland. In light of the decision which seems to be coming today in the UK to begin upgrading their nuclear power generators. A debate which has been called for a while [...]