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

Third level fees have weaseled their way back onto the news agenda. On Tuesday Minister of Education, Batt O’Keefe submitted documents to cabinet detailing the range of options available to Government for abolishing the ‘free fees’ regime. See the Indo report, or The Irish Times for more newsy information. As the Indo says, it is [...]

Much of page 12 in today’s Irish Times is given to follow-up articles on yesterday’s conference on political reform. Like most conferences, it had its good parts and… I spent the day in a bunker-like lecture hall deep in the bowels TCD’s Arts Block listening to highly-informed journalists and academics. The vast majority of the speakers were either insightful, educational [...]

Thanks to Neville Gawley who emailed in some wordles of recent budget speeches. I have 2008 here, 2007 below the fold with 2006 and 2005.

So, I bought this month’s village magazine (pictured) because the front page promised me an in-depth intelligent look at Eoghan Harris and his nomination to the Seanad. There are indeed four articles in Village in which Harris features. All written by Vincent Browne.

Psychologists today warned of the dire consequences if the near-toxic levels of schadenfreude caused by the PD’s demise continue. For many socialists, liberals, libertarians and plain old democrats, the PD meltdown was a hidden diamond in the race to the centre-right that was election 07. The removal from office of so many hubristic, egotistical demagogues [...]

I didn’t intend writing about the Environment this week, however the conference in Nairobi on the effects of climate change has put the environment at the top of the political agenda, albeit only for a brief period. Yet, here in Ireland, the main political parties continue to ignore the importance of this issue.

The general election campaign certainly seems to have begun in earnest this weekend, with the Soldiers of Destiny holding their Ard Fheis in Dublin. Most commentators were surprised at the level and viciousness of the attacks on the opposition by the Fianna Fail party faithful at this Ard Fheis. The Labour Party came in for [...]

An interesting debate took place in the Dail last week on the Labour Party motion opposing the increasing privatisation of the health service and the consequent further development of the two-tier system of healthcare. This privitisation will result in the building of private hospitals on the grounds of public medical facilities and major tax breaks [...]

The Labour Party is seeking a mandate from the electorate based on its election strategy, which was adopted by the vast majority of delegates at Party Conference and clearly sets out our preference for government. Despite the recent polls, it won’t be until much closer to the election that we will see whether people accept [...]

I’ll be blogging here weekly in the run-up to the next election. I’m a Fianna Fail member of Letterkenny Town Council, elected in June 2004, and I served as Mayor of Letterkenny from June ’05 to June ’06. I’m a Fianna Fail councillor, but I’m not a Fianna Fail blogger. I’m a very proud member [...]

Seamus Ryan is a sitting Labour Councillor from Waterford. He actively blogs at seamusryan.blogspot.com and for the forseeable future will be writing a weekly column for IrishElection.com, looking at politics from the front line, as it were. In the interests of balance, his column is part of a pair where the second column is written [...]