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

After Mr Dempsey last year this is the second minister to have a blog. John Gormley’s Bali Blog.

It took me a while to realise there was something very odd about the latest RedC poll in the Sunday Business Post. Sure, Fianna Fáil has dipped precipitously. Well, after the month they’ve had one would think they’d better be down, at least a bit. Provisional Licences, pay increases, the latest noises from the Tribunal [...]

Bord Pleanala has laid a bed of nails for Minister Gormley. They have granted permission for the Poolbeg incinerator to go ahead with a capacity of 600,000. The inspector report recommended that the incinerator should only have a capacity of 500,00 tonnes at the most but DCC want the 600,000 to make up the shortfall [...]

John Gormley, leader of the Green party and recently appointed minister to the environment. He hasn’t really had much to say since the election, until now. Clearly Mr. Gormley has done a lot of research into engine emissions and knows a lot about how engines work. I say this because he has plans for an [...]

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 [...]

Rough details here, more as it comes out. Its mostly as you were, FF unchanged, Greens at 7%, FG unchanged while Labour loses 1%.
I suppose that it will come as a bit of a surprise to both sides as both Labour and Fine Gael could not have been happier with 1)their start to the Dail [...]

No two ways about it, the main man Noel Dempsey is having a nightmare of a time in Transport. He has been badly undone by Aer Lingus and the FOI revelations (even though the civil servant took the rap) and now his handling of the driver’s licence regulations is woeful beyond belief. How can one screw up [...]

His cup overflowing with goodies, Bertie Ahern is nearly at the end of post-election patronage and reward for those who propelled Fianna Fail back into Government Buildings. Some interesting committee appointments (well, for entertainment value anyway) as Jackie Healy Rae will chair the Social and Family Affairs Committee although Beverly Flynn loses out on a [...]

The report of the 2007 Consituency Commission is out, some would say a little bit too late but how and ever. Kerry is to remain split, with Kerry South a 3 seater while Kerry North joins to West Limerick in also remaining a 3 seater. Dublin Euro is a 3 seater, Dun Laoghaire is a [...]

It seems a happy coincidence that last week John Gormley announced national capacity for waste incineration in 2016 would be 400,000 tonnes and only two plants and today An Bord Pleanala give Indaver permission to increase the capacity of the Meath project and bring the capacity of their two plants in Cork and Meath up [...]

The Irish Times breaking news suggests that we are probably looking at an EU referendum in May or June of next year. The happy bunnies in Luxembourg reckon that they can get an agreement on the new EU reform Treaty in meetings and a summit this week. The report quotes also from an interesting speech [...]

Dear Ciaran
I read your speech before the Ireland Institute with great interest. There is much common ground between the Left and the Greens. While various political parties may be on opposite sides in the Dail, we are not, ultimately, politically opposed. In that constructive spirit I’d like to discuss some of your observations - specifically, [...]

So the figures on the live register come out today with something for all sides. The live register is down 13,500 on last month. This is clearly something government will look at in hope, however all the opposition parties will emphasise the fact that the seasonally adjusted number on the live register has risen by [...]

The uneasiness that seemed evident last week (not with government itself rather the contortions positions its forces them into) is set to go on. Eamon Ryan was door stepped this morning and has again committed the Greens to seeing this whole government thing through.
No doubt they are a little disappointed that Gormley’s raising of litter [...]

Reading about the current events down the Tribunal in the Sunday Business Post is illuminating. Sure, Bertie Ahern had a rough day on Friday. Those jeers outside can’t be good - to put it mildly. Whether they’re quite up there with Haughey is a different matter. And… protestations notwithstanding, this constant batting too and fro [...]

The Food Minister Trevor Sargent urges us to eat local produced food. Now I could make Darina Allen type jokes. Stuff about cookery shows like Cooking with Trevor , or Trevor’s meals for friends.
“I urge shoppers to watch out for new locally grown carrots, brussels sprouts, leeks, parsnips, swedes, potatoes as well as apples [...]