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

Denis O’Brien won his defamation case against the Irish Daily Mail’s Paul Drury yesterday because the Mail’s “honest opinion” defence of Drury’s column failed since they could not establish the truth of the facts which formed its basis. The honest opinion defence was introduced into Irish law by Michael McDowell in the Defamation Bill of [...]

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has tonight announced his eleven nominations to Seanad Eireann. There’s some welcome additions, some of which point to the obvious influence of Labour (Katherine Zappone, Aideen Hayden, for example, or the fact that 7 out of the 11 nominees are women). There’s also some surprises: Fiach MacConghail gets the nod for his [...]

The Irish Dail has one major failing; parish pump politics. There are a couple of theories as to why, but it seems the only national level views are to be found in the cabinet, the shadow cabinet and the Seanad. And that scope is why its needed. Its problems (and its expense) is why the [...]

Although we’re still in the phoney war stage of the election campaign, it seems that the basic FF strategy is to throw a bunch of, er, stuff, at the wall and see what sticks.  In that regard, we got today in the Senate an interesting and tendentious exchange between Sen. Alex White (Lab.) and Minister [...]

Today’s Wicklow Times is reporting that Senator Deirdre de Burca is packing her bags and heading for Brussels to work in the cabinet of Ireland’s new European Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn . Now you may remember the last time Senator de Burca hitched the parachute to her back and flew. This time she is going further [...]

Posted this on my own blog yesterday, so apologies for the cross posting. Should have put it here first! Apart from the speculation on who will be Fianna Failure‘s nominees for the two Seanad by-elections (caused by the death of Senator Tony Kett [FF] and election to the European Parliament of Senator Alan Kelly [LAB]), [...]

Image by infomatique via Flickr Anyone interested in making an informed decision on the Lisbon Treaty would do well to read the Special Report by the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs on the role of National Parliaments if the Treaty is ratified. Published on Friday, it is a straight-forward and relatively brief document which makes [...]

Feeling oddly discomforted, as I am sure you will soon, I read the preview to the ‘hot’, ‘saucy’ and ‘steamy’ Eoghan Harris (!) interview in Hot Press. The though of Senator Harris holding forth on eroticism – among other topics – isn’t exactly making me run out to purchase but it is good to see [...]

I thought it couldn’t get worse. I was wrong. And now, due to Eoghan Harris, we see the Coolacrease situation become elevated to a semi-political issue, hence my posting this to Irish Election as well as the Cedar Lounge Revolution. Eoghan Harris in today’s Sunday independent writes about Coolacrease (Tom McGurk also writes about it [...]

Mary Harney was quoted in the Independent today on her future as party leader and when she would like to have the job handed over to her successor; “Obviously I will continue to assist the party in any way I can. But hopefully the party can now put a mechanism to have a leader in [...]

Quite a day down at our second chamber, perhaps slightly less so in the first. Alex White and Pearse Doherty were uncontentious and professional. Perhaps a little nervous if anything. Shannon loomed large throughout the afternoon. And it has to be said that there were quite a number of younger faces there. Which is probably [...]

Contrary to my earlier post it was indeed Moylan who was elected to the Chair in the Seanad, my own error in reading proceedings, thanks Keith.

Seanator Pat Moylan will be elected Cathaoirleach of the Seanad today when they meet for the first time. He beat off competition from Terry Leyden, Ann Ormonde and Jim Walshe. Loving the way senators return early while the house with all the power remains on a break.

So, I bought this month’s village magazine (pictured) because the front page promised me an in-depth intelligent look at Eoghan Harris and his nomination to the Seanad. There are indeed four articles in Village in which Harris features. All written by Vincent Browne.

Originally posted at Associate Notes The Seanad is an undemocratic, archaic, useless institution. It’s been that way since its inception but the Irish people have ignored it, mostly because it’s the most boring institution we’ve got. That is about to change. Eoghan Harris has just become a senator. No, you’re not dreaming. Your eyesight has [...]

The whole country to choose from to fill 11 seats in the Seanad, and who has Mr. Ahern gone for? Well, it’s the usual story in terms of rewarding, compensating and back-scratching. Not that the opposition would have done it a different way, so Leo Varadkar may want to watch out lest his words about “independent [...]