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

Maire Geoghegan Quinn’s statement on her nomination to be Ireland’s next commissioner is below the fold.

The first round of CAO offers went out today, but those who have done well enough in their Leaving Cert to proceed to university may be the last ones to do so for free. The return of fees was probably inevitable even before the economy ran dry. Even so, the performance of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) on the issue over the past year or so is [...]

A spokesman for the Garda Representative Association speaking 0n Newstalk’s Lunchtime with Eamon Keane today said young gardai would be more  susceptible to bribery if they were paid less. Newstalk don’t podcast their shows so I can’t quote the GRA man directly, his basic argument was “cutting the pay of young guards would make bribes [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve brought you news on a Bertie earner – being the recession and all I suppose times are tough for the Iar Taoiseach and the way he might scratch a few euro to make up for his pension levy losses. However news reaches us today of Bertie Ahern’s signing as [...]

In Evert’s recent post on the Lisbon Treaty he finished on a point that jarred me. He ended the post with the following There is no (real) need to expand the powers of the EU government and limit those of the individual national governments. Now nothing in the EU limits the work of the national [...]

A commenter on my blog pointed to a Wikileaks document I hadn’t seen before, and I believe has not received widespread attention. Full PDF. It includes the page below, which refers to developer Sean Dunne’s liabilities to Icelandic bank Kaupthing. The bank was sort of like Ireland’s Anglo Irish. It was nationalised last year. The [...]

Reading the Nama legislation is like staring at the sky on a clear winter’s night: before us a universe of bullet points – scattershot, random and infinite – each of them at first appearing whole and discreet but, when put to the lens, revealing a multitude of hidden meanings – just as the specs in [...]

Mr Justice Peter Kelly from the Commercial Court.  Read his in-depth demolition of the Liam Carroll companies’ bid to keep out the receiver being sought by ACC.   And he managed this level of analysis in just the couple of weeks since the ACC action started.   Or, if NAMA is going to take too long, why not get [...]

Someone has finally reported on the contents of the Moriarty Tribunal’s Preliminary Report – it has been under media embargo since November. Mark Tighe of the Sunday Times interviewed Denis O’Brien who helpfully revealed some of the embargoed contents. The story is summed up in the opening two paragraphs (a sign of a well-written piece) – [...]

It took some time to read and digest the full 300+ page Leas Cross investigation report. In the deluge of An Bord Snip coverage it made sense to leave a post until this morning. In the cold light of morning the report is worse than the initial impression my dulled senses took. There are a [...]

Warning: This thread will be constantly updated by various writers as details emerge. Readers are free to point out anything we’ve missed in the comments section and we’ll subsume them into the post. It is written somewhat on-the-fly, so apologies for potentially poor English, we post first then edit. – The Irish Times and Independent [...]

We’re going to try something new on Irish Election for the release of the An Bord Snip report. It’s expected at some point in the next few days, probably early Thursday (tomorrow) or early Friday. Irish Election has a community of commenters that most media outlets don’t – that’s what makes this site worth reading, [...]

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 [...]

By pushing through this Blasphemy provision, Dermot Ahern is advertising himself as the Leadership Candidate most likely to deliver on Abortion. When the time comes, that impression is likely to translate into a healthy dollop of organised and well-funded support being brought to bear on backbenchers.

Exchanges between the TEEU’s Eamon Devoy and the CIF’s Tom Parlon became heated on the Pat Kenny show this morning. Devoy taunted Parlon that the TEEU have “closed down all your businesses and they won’t open again until we say so,” or words to that effect, which was enough to make Kenny draw in his [...]

Stephen Spillane has scooped everyone with the news that the bill laying out the Lisbon 2 referendum will be published today and the Referendum Commission will follow on the heels once the bill passes the Oireachtas. From his post: Commission will aim to inform voters of the issue as well as encourage people to vote. [...]