Irish Election are pleased to announce our collection of Irish Political T-shirts. Get yours now! Visit our shop.»
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 [...]
What crisis? The construction sector completed over 78,000 residences last year which is a little above analyst expectation but below the 2006 figure of 90,000+. So are we all over-egging this a bit?
Alternative title for this post was “Irish Manufacturing- It’s a Bust”.
Call for task force after 360 job losses
Newstalk’s Marc Coleman has a nice perch on the Financial Times comment page today to outline his fairly optimistic long-term view of the Irish economy despite the current property downturn. His essential argument, to be outlined in more detail in his book, is that Ireland has two key assets for its long-term growth prospects: people [...]
Just checking out the Fianna Fail Website on the free Wi-fi in Shannon Airport. (Big company of US troops just checking in. A guy just bought a bottle of Middleton Whiskey and then told the CO has said none of them can buy Alcohol. Poor guy maybe I could relieve him of the 120 Euro [...]
The housing market is beginning to show initial and tentative signs of recovery, with prices expected to rise again outside Dublin before the end of 2008.
Since the reform of stamp duty by Finance Minister and Tanaiste Brian Cowen in the Budget on December 5, there have been initial indications that, although the slump has not [...]
More than 266,322 houses, flats and holiday homes lie vacant in the Republic — enough to house a million people, the Sunday Independent has learned. Housing Minister Batt O’Keeffe claimed two weeks ago that much of the present problems in the housing market was caused by rogue builders who are “sitting” on finished properties as [...]
The decision of first-time buyers to defer purchases has seen a boom in the rental market, with rents rising to an all-time average high of €1,400 a month nationwide.” (Irish Independent, 28 November 2007)
…Rents are strong in Ashbourne thanks to its relative proximity to the capital and the major expansion of retail business in the [...]
With the release today of the CSO details on gender in Ireland Labour used the opportunity to push out their policy of
Labour believes that state bodies and agencies should be required to achieve at least 40 per cent representation of each gender on their boards and governing bodies. We believe that statutory force should be [...]
Last week I posted a survey of the first one hundred properties listed on Daft.ie for rent in Dublin, as taken from the Daft site on 30 November 2007. Below is a survey of the next one hundred properties taken on the same day. It shows that in two weeks:
17 out of 100 properties have [...]
Swiss bank loses €6.8bn over subprime crisis
techPresident – The Future of Campaign Technology: The Ground Game
Irish Parties looking at learning online and database lessons from Obama could do worse than bear this post in mind. Almost as soon as the election is over, improvements and evolution are making some parts redundant and others essential. Get your campaign an i-phone for everyone? Might be better than printing flyers, it goes to show how parties, if they take it seriously, need to keep ahead of the wave - not just follow.
Colman at the EuroTrib give his reasoning on why Lisbon is dead. The Government's incapable handling of the budget cuts are the nail in the coffin.
Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar offers his view on how the SBP Opinion Poll would translate in an election.
Think tank: Time for democracy to click into place
Dan Sullivan gets himself into The Sunday Times, calling for the internet to connect citizens to a more meaningful democracy. Its an argument I agree with wholeheartedly myself. Have a read and let him know what you think.
Colm Burke MEP reckons that we need to get honest and tell people we will be holding a second Lisbon Vote in Oct 2009 with protocols desigend to secure a yes vote.
