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

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 [...]

Labour are going to introduce a motion of no confidence in the Minister for Health Mary Harney in the Dail next week. Details of the motion are below the fold.
We ask everyone to contact their local FF/Green/Indp TDs either by phone,fax or email and ask them to support the vote of no confidence in Harney [...]

In a move that s likely to piss-off Pat Rabbitte, Fintan O’Toole and lefties everywhere scientists at the life&Brain Research Center University of Bonn have proved Michael McDowell was correct. In there ground breaking paper in the Journal Science . By taking MRI scans of men’s brains as they preformed various task it [...]

That is the view of one pharmacist as the HSE faces a potential futher disturbance in December. The HSE is altering pricing and payment structures for the medical card scheme from early next month. It will see pharmacists get paid (cost price -8%)+ €3.26 dispensing fee. It might be a little below the radar at [...]

After the revelation yesterday that it was most likely a complaint about balance, most likely to be interpreted as a de facto pulling of Crowne, by HSE. Today’s Sindo reports that Harney was also offered to the Saturday view in order to speak on the health service. Prof. Crowne was also due to be on [...]

Many of us have heard of the alleged line of John Reid when Tony Blair gave him the job of Secretary of State for Health: “Oh f*ck, not health”.  One might think the job warrants the same reaction in Ireland.  And yet while the job is no doubt difficult (and Mary Harney looks just plain [...]

Today’s Irish Times has the report (it was always going to happen really, sadly) on the letter sent to Mary Harney’s office in 2005 by a Consultant Peter Naughton who said that radiology in the Midlands Regional Hospital was being provided by those who “had no expertise in the area”.
The ’smoking gun’ as it were [...]

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 [...]

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 place [...]

Heads up to Random Walk for this one. And, ahem, McWilliams for the overdraft line. Ireland’s gross external debt increased by 262% under Fianna Fáil and the PDs, from around €521 billion in 2002, to over €1.36 trillion as of 30 June 2007. The gross external debt, according to the CSO, consists of “the gross [...]

In light of the pretty awful developments in Limerick earlier this week, Harney has dusted off the Hanely report to re-emphasise how Cancer services need to be centralised and that not every hospital can carry world-class cancer treatment. Although not specifying which centres she was referring to Harney said that closures in local hospitals is [...]

Enjoy

Green Ink.

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 [...]

It seems the Mary Harney will remain as PD leader. Is that wise should new blood have been given a shot. Surely now is the time to give someone else a moment in the spot light. Mary Harney is not planning to remain party leader in the long term and they desperately need someone to [...]