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

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 [...]

There is a bit of a clash between the Greens and Fianna Fail at the moment about Hare coursing. I have never gone hare coursing but I have participated in the catching of hares when I was a kid. Me and a cousin jumped in the back of a van. Were brought to a bog [...]

I got a feeling that Labour are going to focus all their energies on the Green party. If they are to get the 30 seats that he wants they will need to destroy the other parties of the left and take their seats. One of the first steps to this is talking about the Iraq [...]

This appeared in one of the Sunday’s yesterday but the Green’s Ciaran Cuffe today announced the party had reservations about the building of an Outer Orbital Route from Drogheda to Naas ahead of improving public transport infrastructure. Cuffe suggests that the Orbital route lies beyond what was agreed in the Programme for Government and appears [...]

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 [...]

The Taoiseach’s 11 nominees are as follows:
Dan Boyle & Deirdre de Burca (Green Party)
Ciaran Cannon & Fiona O’Malley (Progressive Democrats)
Martin Brady, Ivor Callely, Maria Corrigan, John Ellis, Lisa McDonald & Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fáil)
Eoghan Harris (Sunday Independent columnist and Bertieaholic)
Link 

The Examiner reckon that Bertie will make the announcement in the next 48 hours, fresh from his soujourn in Ballybrit. The Greens get two, with Dan Boyle and Deirdre de Burca as the selections, as do the PDs with a plethora of options (politics.ie report they are Ciaran Cannon and Fiona O Malley). The FF [...]

The greens are continuing being the busiest people in the cabinet. This time it Eamon Ryan’s turn to do something. A new tax of 15% on profitable Gas and Oil finds in Ireland. Not a bad move. Certainly not exorbitant and in the era of high oil prices probably not enough to scare the oil [...]

Niall O Brolchain took up some of the comments made in the Business Post attributed to Seamus Brennan on Sunday and called for a review of the whole Galway Races tent. Certainly it smacks of pretty uncomfortable symbolism but it would be an equally big win for the Green party if it got concessions on [...]

Minister John Gormley recieved a letter from chairman of the Petitions Committee in the EU Parliament. The letter suggests that building on the M3 should be halted following the findings made at Lismullen earlier this year.
The site at Lismullen is a National Monument but as was reported earlier, the recommendation of the National Museum was to preserve [...]

The overturning of the Monaghan Development plan by John Gormley has gotten increasingly tetchy as first Sinn Fein press released (three times in one day) to air their displeasure at the “anti-democratic” nature of Gormley’s decision to overturn the plan. The decision taken by Gormley lacked a mandate since his party only received 3% of [...]