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

I have been meaning to get back to the Manifesto Checking of the Government parties. But I have been busy. However here is a quick comparrison of where the Greens Labour and Fine Gael disagree. Eirgrid.

It is nice to see when something you talked about happens. From Ireland.com State may put tax on standard light bulbs

The Russian’s have succeeded in bullying a country into changing their policies by using oil and gas as a weapon. While alot of lip service is given to the topic of energy security very little is done about it. The only way for Ireland to secure energy security is to increase the amount of [...]

With Fianna Fail telling us of the dangers of New nuclear power plants. What did they say in 2002 about Nuclear power. Lets check the manifesto
Use the OSPAR process, the Euratom Treaty and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to continue to challenge nuclear operations at Sellafield on economic, legal, environmental and [...]

All has been quiet here for the last few days; the Christmas period taking its toll on our contributors. But the countdown to the election continues nonetheless and issues remain. It seems again the government’s shortsightedness over electricity generation in this country is going to come back and bite us in the ass: IDA warns [...]

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed / A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed / Then one day he was shootin at some food / And up through the ground came a bubblin crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas T.
Sadly for us, no one in Ireland is going [...]

From the Green Party:
The Green Party has called for the terms of the exploration rights of gas and oil off the Irish coast to be redrafted. The Party passed a policy calling for new terms at a recent meeting of its National Council. [...] While the Government and the main opposition parties continue to avoid [...]

Following events in Rossport yesterday, a narrative has emerged of violent protests including the use of a car as a battering ram. Comments from contributors to this site have thrown accusations at Shell To Sea, accusing them of attacking ‘busloads of workers,’ ‘committing criminal damage,’ and possibly using a car as a ram to injure [...]

RTE News is reporting that the Gardai baton-charged a group of protesters.
Update: Breaking News says one person has been injured.
Update: Sinn Fein statement: Ferris criticises Garda handling of Bellanaboy protest; Greens Sargent appeals for calm as violence flares in Bellanaboy.
Update: Labour Face to face talks needed at Bellanaboy, Fine Gael
Update: RTE video hat [...]

The publication of the Stern Report in the UK today has pushed the environment to centre-stage yet again, however it’s fair to say that the topic had been at the top of the agenda before this event anyway. In Britain, the green-shift in Tory focus under David Cameron has been the greatest evidence of this, [...]

As reported in today’s Irish Independent, an opinion poll by conducted by Public Opinion Ltd. for The Mayo Advertiser has found that 45% of voters in Mayo support the Shell To Sea campaign to have the terminal moved offshore, with 15% supporting Shell and 40% having no opinion. The opinion poll reflects the recent TNS/MRBI [...]

Hey, it is great to hear from my favourite Green, Eamon Ryan, and indeed one of my favourite politicians. He is honest, knows his stuff, and just seems genuine, unlike his colleague John “I secretly heart McDowell” Gormley. And as per usual with Mr Ryan, while I disagree with some of his points, he hits [...]

With the unmistakeable sound of windless sails echoing around Leinster House, the Taoiseach was today moving back to what Conor Lenihan termed “real politics”, in this case continuing the ongoing rehabilitaion of the green image of Fianna Fail. Today saw the announcement of (ambitious) policy on green energy for the country going forward.

This isn’t not good news really. FinFacts reports that the EU is now 56% dependent on foreign fuels, up 2% from 54%. Ireland is at 90% dependence behind Cyprus (100%), Portugal (99.4%), Luxembourg (99.0%), and Poland (94%).

One of the main policy platforms of the Green Party is the introduction of a carbon tax. The purpose of the carbon tax is that by putting a certain amount of tax on carbon emissions, people and industries will change their attitudes, emit less carbon emissions and invest more heavily in renewable energy sources. Now [...]

Taking place in Sligo, Enda was on Morning Ireland this morning (link later). The Fine Gael party will be discussing crime again and also energy policy. The feel-good factor running through the party was re-enforced last night with predictions from Frank Flannery that a seat haul in the fifties is a strong possibility. Pat Rabbitte [...]