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

The Drumcondra mafia, that is.  Can anyone keep track of the last two days’ Mahon revelations, let alone reconcile them with earlier testimony?  In particular, we have learned that it looks like Celia Larkin was never intended to be out of pocket, at least not anytime soon, on the loan that she got to buy [...]

Does any of this sound familiar? – Not all of the money was a gift, New York businessman Morris Talansky told the court.  Some of the cash “donations” handed over to Olmert were loans, which he expected to be repaid. “Famous last words,” Talansky jokingly told the court when he explained that the money was [...]

Yea, you would guess it’s all over since Bertie Ahern resigned as Taoiseach. Well, it isn’t. And there was more explosive evidence. Didn’t hear about it? Quelle surprise. The media, read RTE, seem to be taking their eye off the ball. Remember that whole B/T account thing?

An interesting clash of interpretation on the widely discussed style of the new Taoiseahc. For Pat Leahy the new style is “clear thinking and firm decision-making”. For the Sunday Indo, it is “authoritarian” and “stalinist”. An enigmatic man.

The Offaly Independent reports that a massive caravan of Offaly folk will descend on the Dail today to celebrate the election of Brian Cowen to the post of Taoiseach (at around 3.30pm – live on Oireachtas.ie) “There`ll be a festive atmosphere,” Tom O`Donovan of O`Donovan Cowen Solicitors, a firm in which Minister Cowen is involved, [...]

Just a short post linking to this BBC story apparently drawn from Paris and Brussels gossip about the candidates for the position of EU Council Presidency — a job of course whose existence later this year is dependent on Ireland passing the Lisbon treaty (and if the No votes spikes up with each round of [...]

Bertie revealed yesterday evening that he has been offered, or at least in discussion about, a role as an international conflict mediator over the course of his trip. ON THE last day of his US visit, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern revealed that he had received approaches “at the highest levels” about a role for him in [...]

One of Bertie Ahern‘s home stretch events today was to launch the Dublin Airport Authority’s plan for Dublin Airport City.   Not to put too fine a point on it, this seems like one of the crazier proposals to have emerged over the last year, and symptomatic of much of what is wrong with governance and [...]

Paul Tansey wrote an impressive list of economic achievements during Bertie Ahern’s tenure as Taoiseach: On Ahern’s watch, the Irish economy almost doubled in size, while the numbers at work increased by one-half . . The unemployment rate declined from 10.4 per cent in 1997 to 4.6. In the 10 years from 1987 to 1997, [...]

Early last week, when things were quieter and the world was still spinning, allegations and remarks were abound as they have been for some time. The evidence of Gráinne Carruth was being lamented as a bad day for Bertie in the newspapers as they executed their never-ending campaign of vicious and snide comment on the [...]

No doubt many people are sick of Bertie coverage at this point, especially following the Sunday papers. But it’s worth taking a look at Bruce Arnold’s assessment in Monday’s Wall Street Journal Europe, because it’s something that the vaguely curious international business-leaning audience that hasn’t paid attention to the affair will read about it. And [...]

Brian Cowen released a statement in the last hour announcing his candidacy for the Fianna Fail leadership and succession of Bertie Ahern. It is interesting to see he was nominated by Brian Lenihan, a man widely tipped to have his eye on becoming the Brian Cowen’ to Brian Cowen and succeeding the next Taoiseach when [...]

1. Who should be the next Taoiseach Response Percent Dermot Ahern 0.0% Brian Cowen 33.3% Michael Martin 16.7% Mary Hanifan 16.7% Willie O’Dea 8.3% Brian Lenihan 12.5% Mary Coughlan 4.2% Noel Dempsey 0.0% Seamus Brennan 8.3% 2. Presuming Brian Cowen gets the nod who should be Taniste Response Percent Michael Martin 13.0% Mary Hanifan 4.3% [...]

Enda gets his place in the sun as the warm, loving, caring place that is the all-powerful blogosphere/interweb gives him some attention at Take Enda With You.

There’s little doubt that Brian Cowen will be the next leader of Fianna Fáil – be it after contest or coronation. The real power struggle seems to be for the Deputy Leadership / Tanaiste Portfolio, which will put the recipient in a prominent position for the next leadership race, whenever that might be.

There is a quickly growing consensus that the Mahon Tribunal will be little more than a footnote – albeit a very unsightly one – in Bertie Ahern‘s legacy. However while there is little doubt that Ahern has done the State enough service to be remembered fondly, his most loyal supporters worryingly seem to believe that [...]