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

Recent months have seen the issue of prostitution come to prominence as the Presidential election approaches. A disturbing parallel with the Lisbon debate is evident in the near unanimity of the political and intellectual ‘Establishment’ for a blind support of traditional policy approaches. How can someone simultaneously claims the mantle of liberalism while also attempting [...]

One wonders if election posters working around the Brian Lenihan on Primetime claim that “we all partied” are already being printed up.  By coincidence, the CSO has released the numbers from the 2009 survey of household income and living conditions.  This survey appears to be a critical source of  information on trends in household income [...]

In a week when the use of forged documentation in the asylum-system was highlighted with the rejection by the Supreme Court of the appeal of Nigerian asylum-seeker Pamela Izevbekhai against her deportation, FG and Labour are proposing the allow asylum-seekers to work. Despite 13% unemployment and mass-emigration – Alan Shatter and Pat Rabbitte are now [...]

Look, I realise that The Irish Times only provides Breda O’Brien with a column to get its liberal readership riled up. Nobody wants to read opinions that conform rigidly to the mainstream the whole time (on which point, here‘s an insidiously good article on how climate change is grand). Well, I am liberal and I [...]

Concerns have been raised at plans by the Government of Saudi Arabia to establish a school with an Islamic ethos in Dublin, according to the Irish Times. The plans have been announced in Arabic on the website of the Saudi embassy in Dublin which opened in September. From the Irish Times on Wednesday: According to [...]

The Department of Finance has news dumped an analysis of “Replacement Rates and Unemployment” while everyone is waiting for the 12 Days of Christmas deal with the public sector unions to be finalized.  The replacement rate is defined as the percentage of potential disposable income in a job that could be retained by a household [...]

Niall Crowley’s resignation as the CEO of the Equality over budget cutbacks which would see the authority lose 40% of its budget and enforce a move to Roscrea that would decimate its legal staff raises more questions for Angela Kerins and the others on the Equality Authority board. Suzy has posted on Maman Poulet Angela [...]

Many thanks to Stretch (he reads Hot Press so we don’t have to!) for pointing us to the recent interview with Declan Ganley, the chairperson of Libertas. You might have seen Mr. Ganley on the Late Late Show on Friday night last, he has also been in Brussels recently. He’s getting ready for Lisbon the [...]