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

There is a constant ratcheting up of pressure on this issue for Hanafin. This afternoon John Gormley and some Green paty representatives met parents of autistic children and promised to raise the issue of provision for ABA with Minister Hanafin (link once I get one-heard on radio). Niall’s ABA post is still very active over [...]

What crisis? The construction sector completed over 78,000 residences last year which is a little above analyst expectation but below the 2006 figure of 90,000+. So are we all over-egging this a bit?

There are two small but interesting pieces in the Irish Times today concerning Labour and the PDs. The PDs are meeting in Galway today in a meeting organised by Noel Grealish to discuss future direction. Though the meeting is due to be “councillor-driven” and Mary Harney won’t be present it is interesting and symptomatic of [...]

Update: Finian has been found! On Morning Ireland of all places - god forbid he would put himself at the mercy of Liveline listeners! The promise for the unit for CF patients is contained in Section 5 of the deal document. A new unit is 2/3 years away until completion. Finian is seeking a short [...]

In late November Mary Harney was under immense pressure over the care of cancer-patients and the direction of the health services. There was a small possibility for blood and the opposition forced a vote of no confidence in the Minister. Despite speculation to the converse, the Minister survived and the only overt damage to government [...]

The decision of first-time buyers to defer purchases has seen a boom in the rental market, with rents rising to an all-time average high of €1,400 a month nationwide.” (Irish Independent, 28 November 2007)
…Rents are strong in Ashbourne thanks to its relative proximity to the capital and the major expansion of retail business in the [...]

Well it didn’t take long for Leo Varadkar to join the queue for the ‘Will FG just stop’ treatise that Simon has started. Having watched Dr. Varadkar from afar during some of his student days I’m not surprised. I’m only waiting for Lucinda Creighton to call for women to be charged for post abortion [...]

Property in Ireland - its sale and rental - is not just a social issue, it’s a political issue. And it is covered by journalists as a political issue. Recently we saw a highly publicised campaign by the Irish Times and the Irish Independent to see stamp duty cut. The argument was that stamp duty [...]

Bord Pleanala has laid a bed of nails for Minister Gormley. They have granted permission for the Poolbeg incinerator to go ahead with a capacity of 600,000. The inspector report recommended that the incinerator should only have a capacity of 500,00 tonnes at the most but DCC want the 600,000 to make up the shortfall [...]

With ministerial compensation already an issue after the latest pay review, the latest irritant arrives: a special section inserted into a bill (see below) by Brian Cowen last week to allow former minister Michael Woods TD to retroactively recover pension money for which he had forgotten to apply within the required period.  Two quick defences [...]

The report of the 2007 Consituency Commission is out, some would say a little bit too late but how and ever. Kerry is to remain split, with Kerry South a 3 seater while Kerry North joins to West Limerick in also remaining a 3 seater. Dublin Euro is a 3 seater, Dun Laoghaire is a [...]

Mary Harney was quoted in the Independent today on her future as party leader and when she would like to have the job handed over to her successor;
“Obviously I will continue to assist the party in any way I can. But hopefully the party can now put a mechanism to have a leader in place [...]

The examiner has an interview this morning wit former TD and now senator Fiona o Malley. She suggests that Harney will have stepped down as leader by early next year. She is quoted as relishing the role of leadin the PDs should the committe investigating the rules rule in her favour.
As a senator she is [...]

I see today that the Berkeley Court and Jury’s Ballsbridge have closed for renovations. When I mean renovations, I mean they are going to be completely knocked down and a large complex of apartments are going to be built there.
The original plans were pretty massive and were vetoed by the council. I was [...]

Not sure what to make of this press release from Fianna Fail but here it is.
Call for ‘the Simpsons’ Irish premiere to be held in Springfield, Tallaght - O’Connor Local Fianna Fáil TD, Charlie O’Connor, is calling on Irish film authorities to host the Irish premier of the new Simpsons film in his home [...]

Following on from Cían’s post about additional minister of state positions, Bertie Ahern has confirmed that Trevor Sargent will be one of the twenty put forward in the coming days.
Sargent said he wouldn’t take a full ministry after he announced his resignation as Green Party leader - he said he would, however, take a junior [...]