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

Eamon Ryan was on RTE this morning and said that it is time for a full debate on the merits of nuclear power in Ireland. In light of the decision which seems to be coming today in the UK to begin upgrading their nuclear power generators. A debate which has been called for a while [...]

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 [...]

Now that there’s a deal in Brussels on the drafting of a new EU treaty and confirmation from Bertie that it will require a referendum, it’s worth taking a look at the Green manifesto position on the EU.  There’s enough wiggle room to allow them to play along with the Brussels deal, although there will [...]

So FF-Green have done a deal - now the guessing game before the full statement:

Does it include the PDs (and co-location)?
What ministerial positions will the Greens get?
Will Sargent stick to his guns and step down as leader, having guided the party to Government?
With or without Sargent, it’s likely to be another all-Dublin Taoiseach/Tánaiste team, what [...]

Friday’s Irish Times reports on a potential hurdle in coalition formation that while not fatal, will deal a blow to the credibility of several of the independent TDs if/when a dodge is found around it. The issue is that some of them signed a pledge not to participate in any government that allowed the [...]

One of the main victims of the “squeeze” on smaller parties in this year’s General Election was undoubtedly Sinn Féin who ended up losing a seat rather than making gains as predicted.
So what went wrong for the party?

From Eric Byrne’s excellent (and essential) blog, some of you may have seen it in this morning’s papers;

Sinn Fein’s Manifesto isn’t online but we have a copy here (PDF) at irishelection.com for any of you who wish to peruse it. Main points are below the fold;

Back in February wanted to drug test children. Yet now in May I find no mention of it in their manifesto. Not one mention. Why the change Enda. Finally come to your senses? But what I did see in the manifesto
We will scrap the charade of Budget Day and replace it with a modern [...]

Well it seems that since Bertiegate spilled over into Saturday, the bank holiday was extended to Tuesday to give a bit of breathing space. Still the FF machine are taking advantage of the pause by getting a policy out which migh be discussed. This policy relates to the creation of jobs and the primacy of [...]

Fien Gael have launched their Manifesto. No online version yet but summery from Fine Gael below

In an interview with Vincent Browne to be broadcast tonight, Bertie Ahern confirms that he will stand down as Taoiseach before the end of the next Dáil. Voting for a pig in a whatever?
You can hear Browne’s earlier questioning of Ahern regarding stamp duty and investment in rented houses at the Fianna Fail manifesto [...]

Available here (when uploaded) with speech from the Taoiseach. Headline commitments;
“Protect the prosperity that the Irish people have worked so hard for;· Cut income taxes; · Ensure that every child has access to a safe, modern playground;· Increase the State Pension to €300 per week; · Hire 2,000 extra Gardaí; and · Open Local Injury Clinics around the country”
More to [...]

We got a copy thefairsociety_manifesto2007analysis to follow.
There is obvious overlap with the already stated five commitments, promises on the economy and pre-agreed strategy with Fine Gael. Nonetheless its 128 pages long so there is a lot of new-ish stuff too. First things first, the five commitments for change.

Having spent so long giving out and setting himself against the Sunday Independent, Fine Gael, Labour and the PDs on this, it seems unlikely this was always in the plan for the manifesto. Some of the questions buzzing around my head on this this morning;

They are back to old form, not bothering with the online version. So we are stuck with a press release. Much of this is in the manifesto from last Sunday. “Crucially, we believe that environmental sustainability can be delivered in a way that doesn’t damage the economy,” he [McDowell] said.
To be fair, they have [...]