“What’s 50 million for voting machine even Mugabe wouldn’t buy?”

Eamonn Gilmore’s performance in the Dail’s vote of confidence vote last night is well worth watching (as is last night’s Oireachtas Report when they update), for his calm tone, tempo and unremitting focus on the government benches… The quote from above is from an impressive delivery from another front bencher, Ruari Quinn… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest …

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Fine Gael: yet more blood to be spilled on the carpet…

Well Harry was right… And we’ve not seen the end of it yet, by a long way… This evening ten (out of 17) Fine Gael front benchers have walked out and looking in no uncertain way for the head of Enda Kenny… The Emergency have the shorthand below: Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across …

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What are the prospects for a smooth change in FG?

I suspect that it is obvious at this point that the possibility of a change at the top of FG has increased in the last 48 hours and I suspect, despite the way things are being played in the media, the likelihood of this change over being a smooth and relatively bloodless one has increased too. I believe that Enda Kenny knows that his race as currently constituted has been run and a significant change in approach is needed. It would seem plain to me that neither he nor the party at large simply can’t overcome the incorrect perception of him that has fixed itself in the mind of the electorate. I say this as a fan of the man, I believe he would be a superb Taoiseach but too large a portion of the electorate can’t see that and no matter what we do we appear to not be able to make the electorate see that. So the key question then becomes what do we do about it?

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Donie Cassidy: Sorry lads, there’s no sitting. I’m off to play golf in Turkey…

Whilst we’ve been obsessing with things Nordie, there’s been a whole series of awkward expenses stories in the south that’s led, for instances, to the resignation of the Fianna Fail whip by Ivor Callely.  Technically there’s nothing wrong with Parliamentarians playing golf with other Parliamentarians from other countries. But when you close down the upper house in order to facilitate your trip, that’s a different matter. Apparently that’s what Fianna Fail Senator (and leader of the house) Donie Cassidy did… …

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Are the Irish people prepared to hold government to account?

I’m not sure citing cases of media proprietors backing the losers and then commending them as an exemplar was the most inspiring start to Elaine Byrne’s Op Ed today, but in the end, she asks for greater transparency from a political class which is (past as well as present) still reluctant to ante up its dues.  In the same paper, Fintan O’Toole notes that the Irish appetite for policing the probity of its politicians has been short lived in the …

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