Election 2005

deja vu.. all over again

Pete Baker on April 6, 2005, 4:18 pm | Readers 0

While waiting, again, for another ‘keynote’ speech from Gerry Adams– will it be any different this time? – Tom Brady in the Irish Independent has a clear and, IMO, accurate take on today’s speech – “THE Provisional republican movement is on the brink of making a major gesture to help the North’s peace process in a bid to boost their prospects in next month’s elections.“[emphasis added] The Policing Board is mentioned, see previous posts on that suggestion and/or a possible …

Adams to speak on what’s expected of IRA?

Mick Fealty on April 6, 2005, 2:14 pm | Readers 0

Gerry Adams has given Daily Ireland (unavailable) an exclusive interview ahead of a statement he’s to make in Conway Mill at 3pm this afternoon. The keynote speech is expected to launch the party’s election campaign. There are hints that it will talk about what’s now expected of the IRA. We’ll hold speaking our piece until we see the text of the speech itself, before we can say whether this is a significant or (as some commentators suspect) a purely electioneering …

Scanning the battlefield…

Belfast Gonzo on April 6, 2005, 8:20 am | Readers 0

PRESS Association has two handy crib sheets to the 18 Westminster constituencies. There are plenty of seats about to change hands, so this is definitely worth a read, especially for those unfamiliar with the territory. Your initial predictions are welcome below… Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com

Blogging an election for Slugger

Mick Fealty on April 5, 2005, 9:05 pm | Readers 0

Following on from our highly successful coverage of the Assembly elections in November 2003, we are opening our appeal to send our roving blog reporter (aka yours truly) to Northern Ireland to cover the last few weeks of the Westminster and Council election campaigns. But it depends on you! Last time our readers raised a massive £800, enough to cover the last six days of the campaign. The money covers costs of flights, internal travel and subsistence whilst on the …

The Sun hedging its bets?

Mick Fealty on April 5, 2005, 6:55 pm | Readers 0

Paddy over at Balrog was one of the first to remark on the Sun’s careful hedging of bets. Now Emily Bell adds her pennyworth. I suspect she’s got it right when she suggests that the paper is higly averse to backing a loser. 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 Ireland, the UK and Europe. …

The nationalist election battleground

Mick Fealty on April 5, 2005, 5:47 pm | Readers 0

Considering the news flows over the last few months have focused almost entirely on Northern Irish nationalism, Noel MacAdam is possibly justified in predicting that the big battles are going to be between SDLP and Sinn Fein. The SDLP’s problem is that they seem on track for a decent performance in the council elections, but have seemed certain to lose one of the more high profile Westminster seats since before the last Assembly election. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of …

Ready, get set, and almost go….

Mick Fealty on April 5, 2005, 4:20 pm | Readers 0

The Guardian Election blog goes live, with a Slugger feed being syndicated on their sidebar. Tom Happold reports that Blair’s been to Buckingham Palace to let the dogs of election war off the lease. We’ll do our best here to keep you and the Guardian’s readers abreast of all developments in NI. I hope to make it over for the last week of the campaign to report from the ground in a variety of constituencies, provided we can garner enough …