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

Update: Gallagher on facebook denying he is man in a 1992 photo cited on David Cochrane (of politics.ie)’s twitter page. Sinn Fein’s allegations linking Gallagher to a cheque for €5,000 for FF have been undermined following the revelations that the accuser has convictions for cross-border fuel-smuggling and tax-evasion and leased his General Election HQ to [...]

If you’re old enough, or if you like those old detective shows, you’ll remember the time in every episode when Detective Columbo would have reassured his prime suspect that he was not the prime suspect, step out the door, and then pop back in with a jarring “just one more thing”.   Yesterday in the Dail, [...]

“Quinn-direct is not in trouble .. The only time that Quinn-direct will be in trouble is when Sean Quinn is in trouble. And Sean Quinn is in no trouble. ” –  Sean Quinn, to Simon Carswell, then at the Sunday Business Post, 30 December 2001. One nugget in the SBP article is that at the [...]

Gerry McHugh, until this morning an Independent MLA, has joined Fianna Fáil. He becomes the first person to represent the party in a parliament other than the Oireachtas, I believe (Dev didn’t sit). It seems to signal their entry into Northern politics. McHugh was a Sinn Féin representative for Fermanagh/South Tyrone until 2007. His reason [...]

One of few journalists to call CU for Dana in 1999 has called the third seat in the Northwest euro constituency for Libertas leader Declan Ganley: Ten years ago this week, I was the only reporter to ‘call’ it for Independent candidate Dana Rosemary Scallon in advance of the Connacht-Ulster European election. Fianna Fáil and [...]

  This is  the third in a series of posts looking at who would or would not keep their seats if an election was called now. With not much  local polling to go on this is entirly my opinion and probably wrong. If you have any ideas on it please drop a comment. Donegal North [...]

The Oireachtas has today launched a detailed profile based on the 2006 Census of all the constituencies in the country. The information is quite interesting and comprehensive and details all 42 constituencies in the country.

Its is all eyes on Cowen now as Bertie signals the end of his time at the top with today’s events in the Boyne Valley. Most interesting will be the signals sent to those who were thought to be his competitors in the leadership race – Michael Martin, Dermot Ahern and, to a lesser extent, [...]

In a case that could prove very interesting, Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy has had over £1.5 million worth of assets frozen and the Times Reports that there may well be £15 million worth of bills accruing. ‘Slab’ Murphy is a huge figure on the Republican landscape, described by Liam Clarke in the Times as “Chief of [...]

Sinn Fein are one of the most anti-EU parties in Irish Politics summed up pretty much by their numerous releases along the lines of Sinn Féin wants a Europe of equals not a federal superstate. But in the Irish context they had the Eire Nua document of a while back which with the rise of [...]

The overturning of the Monaghan Development plan by John Gormley has gotten increasingly tetchy as first Sinn Fein press released (three times in one day) to air their displeasure at the “anti-democratic” nature of Gormley’s decision to overturn the plan. The decision taken by Gormley lacked a mandate since his party only received 3% of [...]

Following their Ard Chomhairle meeting today, below the fold. Bottom line: assuming they can find someone will to take their support in government, health would be the only dealbreaker. In particular, no Mary Harney. Also interesting is that the statement was issued by Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD, indicating perhaps an awareness of the need to [...]

So the votes have been counted. The Irish people have opted for a continuation of a third-world hospital system, schooling characterised by inequality and class over-crowding, and the perpetuation of a “cute hoor” culture with significant levels of background corruption and the protection of criminality and illegality so long as the perpetrators are party members, [...]

The following is inspired by the father of Magical Realism Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rather than being a truly factual account of politics in the constituency of Cavan – Monaghan it should be viewed as a type of fable, containing elements that may be true. The constituency should be a five-seater but through a rather desperate [...]

Donegal South-West, not wanting to be left out the fun and games in North-East, has apparently seen a power play by FG HQ.  Joining the trend of unretirements, Dinny McGinley says he’s back on the ticket at the expense of Cllr Terence Slowey, who apparently has been persuaded to withdraw [UPDATED 2 MARCH].

From Breaking News: Rory O’Hanlon, who is also a local TD, was jeered by up to 10,000 protestors who had gathered to show their anger about the planned downgrading of Monaghan Hospital. This is part of a long series of protests about the long running Monaghan Hospital saga. From the Anglo-Celt, “Anger mounts as 2000 [...]