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

Many thanks to Stretch (he reads Hot Press so we don’t have to!) for pointing us to the recent interview with Declan Ganley, the chairperson of Libertas.
You might have seen Mr. Ganley on the Late Late Show on Friday night last, he has also been in Brussels recently. He’s getting ready for Lisbon the [...]

With Gordon Brown’s one year stamp duty land tax holiday on properties costing £175,000 or less (up from £125,000), the differential between stamp duty on house purchases between the UK and Republic of Ireland is now even sharper.  The zero rate in Ireland is only up to €125,000 and then goes to 7%, the highest [...]

Simon McGarr’s post raised the issue of state agency rationalisation. It is an issue we may well not care much for at the moment, as we’re ‘too busy’ with the recession. Yet we should be concerned that some the agencies being tied together and taken back into departments are those ones with a nasty habit [...]

The subject of David McWilliams column today is how the GAA transfer index shows a growing trend of emigration from Ireland.
According to the GCTI, emigration is on the increase from all over Ireland and it is recurring in precisely the age group that we need most — our young, fit people. What makes the change [...]

It won’t be a surprise to Suzy but in echoes of Dermot Ahern’s own stated position in 1993, reports in today’s papers have a number of unnamed Senators and backbench FF TDs suggesting that this whole civil partnership thing is a bridge too far. Despite being greeted as one not far enough by all bar [...]

The Dept of Justice today released the heads of its proposed Civil Partnership Bill (PDF) (not as late as many assumed to be frank). Money quote:
Head 123: Cohabitant and qualified cohabitant
Provide that:
“(1) For the purposes of this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, ‘cohabitants’ means two adults (whether they are of the same sex or [...]

The Dublin LGBTQ Pride Festival is well underway, and continued yesterday evening with the annual debate in the Walton Theatre in TCD at 7.30pm. The motion for discussion was : “Same-Sex Couples Want Access to Civil Marriage, not Civil Partnerships”Chair: Sen. Ivana BacikProp: Sen. David Norris & Ailbhe Smyth (MarriagEquality)Opp: Neil Ward (Dublin Pride) & [...]

Wednesday’s Irish Independent is a case-in-point for those of us who suspect the press of siding with the Establishment against the people over Lisbon. With jobs losses growing by the week, they cynically attempt to link the issue to the possibility of a “No” vote to the June 12th referendum. This article is pure facile [...]

When Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair last summer, he was hit by the floods and then the foot and mouth outbreak — and went up in the polls. Brian Cowen might need a similar trend over the next couple of months. With Lisbon and the economy already looking like the hot potatoes of [...]

The time of the departure of Bertie Ahern has now been announced. What of his legacy, his place in Irish history? Here are some points that might be considered.

Simon had given the most recent account of the phenomenon: the government toying with days of the week and seasons when scheduling elections and referenda for political advantage.  Now Bertie has a new twist: a Lisbon vote in June, on a day yet to be scheduled, but in the middle of when many first-time voters [...]

So State may be paying pensions to 8,000 deceased people. now according to the article a pension is €223 a week. Or for 8000 people for a year €92,778,000. Is it time we had a Minister for Waste because whoever is doing the checking is not doing a very good job.Maybe with a green budget [...]

There is a constant ratcheting up of pressure on this issue for Hanafin. This afternoon John Gormley and some Green paty representatives met parents of autistic children and promised to raise the issue of provision for ABA with Minister Hanafin (link once I get one-heard on radio). Niall’s ABA post is still very active over [...]

On a Private Members Bill in the Dail tomorrow, Sinn Fein and Labour will jointly propose enshrining rights for agency workers into law. The bill itself is most worthwhile, agency workers are often the last to benefit from employment rights as their netherland status allows for ‘flexibility’.
The Sinn Féin/Labour motion says that without legislation [...]

The bankers reassure us that “new lending continues to moderate in a mortgage market that is still growing in overall terms.”
Translated, this means that people, mostly young people seeking their first home, are flocking to buy houses at prices they regard as realistic. (Irish Independent editorial, 14 February, 2008)
So. The spinning continues.
The above quote comes [...]

Last week I received an invitation from John Gormley’s office to attend a consultation that the Green Party was holding to discuss forthcoming developments in the legislation for Civil Partnerships for same sex couples.
Readers of MP will know I have been vocal on the issue of the Green Party policy in government regarding same sex [...]