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

With Sean Gallagher now taken out of his Presidential hopes, convicted fuel-smuggler and Gallagher-accuser Hugh Morgan has changed his story for a second time. He now says the invite to the FF fundraising event may not have been issued by Gallagher at all, but by former FF TD for Louth Seamus Kirk. Kirk himself says [...]

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 [...]

Opposition is emerging from some Labour and FG TDs, Labour councillors to the prospect of a FG-Labour Coalition. Dublin MEP Proinsias de Rossa has said the party ‘should be prepared to go into Opposition’ if FG refuses to implement elements of Labour’s “Social Democratic Programme”. Former Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Energy and Natural Resources [...]

The latest by-election poll from Red C (conducted for Paddy Power) in the Donegal South-West by-election campaign confirms SF on target to take the seat: Pearse Doherty (SF) 40% Brian O’Domhnaill (FF) 19% Barry O’Neill (FG) 15% Frank McBrearty (Lab) 14%

Thanks to politics.ie. FG 31 (-2) FF24,(nc) LAB 23 (-4) SF 10 (+2) GR 3 (+1) Oths 9 (+3) Underlines volatility of Labour vote. Also public satisfaction with Brian Cowen is 19% to 64% dissatisfied and 17% undecided. 29% are more likekly to vote vote FF with Cowen replaced, including 21% of FG and Labour [...]

In case you missed it earlier here’s the entrance of Maureen O’Sullivan TD and George Lee TD into the Dáil Chamber this afternoon.

The Fianna Fáil second tier are dripping into the count centre as we speak. Sean Haughey was first – arriving about an hour ago. Pat Carey popped in a half-hour later. Mary Hanafin is the latest, she sauntered in quietly under the radar and hugged Maurice Ahern while most cameras wern’t switched on – mine [...]

The first analysis from 1990 to the 2009 (tallies only) of the local election results in Limerick City with special thanks to John Browne and FiannaFuddy (politics.ie).

The German ambassador’s reply to inquiries as to his comments at an event in Tralee on Tuesday. The ambassador was there because of new cultural linkups between Tralee and Frankfurt, his reported comments were incendiary locally – consdiering the high number of ‘no’ voters at the last Lisbon campaign and the re-election of Martin Ferris [...]

Peruse the diagram above. The green/yellow states are those voting with DREs with a voter-verified paper-trail (VVPR) (except in Tennessee, Colorado and Maryland where the relevant legislation has been passed but doesn’t come into force this year) and with/without (respectively) a paper audit-trail. The red-states are those requiring neither a paper-audit-trail nor a voter verified [...]

Over at the Property Pin they have been digging away at the proposals in yesterday’s budget for affordable housing provision. The website set up (homechoiceloan.ie) appears to suggest the government is steppign into subprime mortgages for those refused by banks and building societies as well as stipulating the houses purchased come from the 35,000-50,000 new, [...]

Even before the Irish people’s democratic decision to reject the fatally-flawed Lisbon Treaty, (which would have deepened the democratic-deficit in Europe still further), the source of Libertas funding was a bane of “yes” campaigners. To the elite, the possibility of the ‘mainstream’ parties being so decisively outspent by this upstart pro-business group with financial interests [...]

In a great day for Irish and European democracy, the Irish people, on a higher turnout than Nice II, rejected the illegitimate and anti-democratic Lisbon Treaty by 53.4% to 46.6%. In doing so, they have struck a blow for freedom and against remote, unaccountable and undemocratic rule by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. They have shown [...]

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 [...]

Bertie Ahern was talking to European Journalists today and outlined that the EU Treaty referendum will probably be held in early 2008. Sinn Fein have said they will lead a “robust” no campaign against the treaty, making them the only Irish party to commit to doing so and likely the only one with the Green [...]

The High Court today ruled in favour of the Mahon Tribunal and against the Irish Times in the Bertiegate case. The tribunal is seeking to have the paper and its journalist, Colm Keena, reveal the source of the material which sparked Bertiegate earlier this year in September 2006. The planning tribunal sought the order against [...]