fine gael – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

Fine Gael drop back towards Ireland’s large political peloton

Mick Fealty on February 11, 2013, 9:01 pm

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Let’s get one thing straight, polls do not increase or decrease the size of a political party. They are nere snapshots of opinion, not predictors of the future. So whilst Sinn Fein was never the second largest party in the state, neither is Fianna Fail currently the largest. Of course both, if trends continue, are set to make gains in the next big elections, which are the Locals and Europeans. But all we can say at the moment is that the …

Red C Poll: The trend lines between FG and FF softly narrowing…

Mick Fealty on December 3, 2012, 12:33 pm

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The most interesting aspect of yesterday’s Red C poll, was the 80 plus per cent in favour of legislating on the circumstances in which an abortion might be legally reformed in the Republic. That would put some pure green (not to mention socially liberal) water between the north and the south on the matter. Only 10% said No, and a mere 5% Don’t Know. But on the political front, there’s been some interesting shifts in government ratings, with Fine Gael …

Simon Coveney to address the DUP…

Mick Fealty on November 19, 2012, 10:39 am

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And here’s a first, a Fine Gaeler, indeed a southern Minister of any description, is to address the DUP party conference for the first time ever… The rational is intesting, a commonality of interests in Europe around CAP: Diane Dodds MEP said it was important to engage with “all actors within the Common Agricultural Policy reform process . . . Simon Coveney has over the last number of months prepared himself for the task ahead. He has visited other parts …

Do the govt need a No vote in #euref…

John Ó Néill on May 30, 2012, 1:06 am

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..and, to provide similar political cover, does the No side need a Yes vote? The only thing that is clear from the lead-up to the referendum on Thursday is that neither the changing political and economic context of the Austerity/Stabilitytreaty nor it’s relatively bland content has really generated much energy, despite the ramifications of ratification. The value of referenda has been disputed on here before. Indeed, Minister of State Leo Varadkar suggested that referenda were not democratic at the start of the campaign, as he: …

Fine Gael need to get themselves a good public sector legacy on reform..

Mick Fealty on April 1, 2012, 7:35 pm

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I’ve heard two angles on the issue of the over neglected issue of political reform… One, Brendan Keenan on Marian Finucane this morning suggested that since Fine Gael shows little appetite for anything other than rescuing the country from economic doom, Fianna Fail might use a rejuvenated reform agenda as a powerful ticket back to power and influence (if not actual government)… Noel Whelan thinks Fine Gael themselves need to pick up the reform ticket before it is too late …

Household Charge, Promissory Note, Ard Fheis: the day before April Fools’ Day

John Ó Néill on March 27, 2012, 11:57 am

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While everyone is conveniently busy not paying the Household Charge by the 31st March, the clocks are ticking towards the same deadline for payment of a €3.06 billion promissory note for Anglo-Irish Bank. Fortunately, as reported by the Journal.ie, Finance Minister Michael Noonan told the Dáil last week that: The discussions with the European authorities on the general issue continue but we are now negotiating with the EU authorities, and principally with the ECB, on the basis that the €3.06 billion …

“Enda sounded like Fr Ted trying to explain to a baffled Fr Dougal the difference between “small” and “far away”.”

Pete Baker on March 14, 2012, 1:55 pm

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In the Irish Times, the peerless Miriam Lord on the latest shenanigans in the Dáil Meanwhile, the saga of the Promiscuous Notes rumbles on. It was Gerry Adams’s turn this time to wave them provocatively at the Taoiseach. The Spanish have the right idea, said the Sinn Féin leader. They took the toro pos los cuernos in Europe this week and got themselves a reduction in their budget deficit targets. “Will the Taoiseach follow the lead of the Spanish government, …

“Freedom of information it isn’t…”

Pete Baker on February 18, 2012, 2:24 pm

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In the Irish Times, Noel Whelan takes a look at the Irish presidential candidates’ declared expenditure. [So you don’t have to? – Ed] Indeed. He starts by comparing that declared expenditure with what they said, during the campaign, they would spend. From the Irish Times article One of those mental notes was made during the televised election debate on the Late Late Show as candidates were asked how much they would spend on their campaigns. Seán Gallagher answered first, making …

You are not responsible for the crisis (Oh yes you are)

John Ó Néill on January 27, 2012, 10:04 am

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Whoever it was aimed at, Enda Kenny’s performance in Davos doesn’t seem to be going down well back home. The Irish Times reports that he said: “What happened in our country was that people simply went mad borrowing,” Mr Kenny told a meeting at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “The extent of personal credit, personal wealth created on credit was done between people and banks – a system that spawned greed to a point where it just …

The difference between FF and FG? Twelve months.

John Ó Néill on December 8, 2011, 12:25 am

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Anyone who watched the anodyne post-budget chat between Michael Noonan (FG) and Michael McGrath (FF) on RTE’s PrimeTime on Tuesday must have been reminded of Pearse Doherty’s comment during Sinn Féin’s response to the budget in the Dáil earlier that day that the difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is twelve months. In retrospect the kites that were flown prior to the budget provide a cynical benchmark of the extent to which the government tried to instill fear in the public to condition them for some of the changes …

Austerity in two halves: #Budget2012

John Ó Néill on December 3, 2011, 11:32 pm

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Early next week will finally see the introduction of #Budget2012 to the Dáil, in a novel format with two speeches, one by Brendan Howlin on Monday and one by Michael Noonan on Tuesday. The budget has been heavily trailed, with endless kite-flying over the last few weeks. A brief guide to (some) of the proposed changes was given by Caroline Madden in the Irish Times last Monday. For ease of reference, most of the main suggested budgetary changes are given below. It will be interesting to compare the …

Did Taoiseach submit #Budget2012 to Berlin for approval?

John Ó Néill on November 17, 2011, 8:14 pm

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The Irish government is under pressure this evening as it is having to deny Press Association reported rumours that it has allowed the German government to inspect the budget before it is brought to the Dáil next month (i.e. well before the democractically members of Oireachtas get to see it). The Irish Independent says that Reuters also had the same story, prompting swift denials from Government officials today. With market driven crises prompting the replacement of existing leaders with technocrats in Italy …

Are the Fine Gael donors the bondholders?

John Ó Néill on November 11, 2011, 12:34 am

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Fine Gael won’t reveal who fund them or the identity of the bondholders who received a $1 billion payout last week. With a further unsecured, unguaranteed, bond due early next year and some major cuts coming in the December budget, surely it is time for Fine Gael to come clean about the identities of it’s donors? The ban on corporate fund-raising by the party was lifted when Enda Kenny took over as party leader. Since then, the party has managed to build up significant financial resources …

I share the Irish public’s dismay at the cost and unfairness of this policy

John Ó Néill on November 3, 2011, 12:21 am

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In this morning’s Irish Times, the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, offered everyone the wisdom of his thoughts on the payment of a €700m unsecured unguaranteed Anglo-Irish Bank bond. The whole piece is worth a read. He states that: Part of the existing agreement with our external partners is not to allow any Irish bank, including Anglo Irish Bank, default on its debts to bondholders for fear of paralysing wider European financial markets. I share the Irish public’s dismay at the cost …

Gay Mitchell and the Commonwealth

John Ó Néill on September 30, 2011, 11:51 am

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Gay Mitchell may be no stranger to Slugger, but for those unfamiliar with the other candidates in the presidential election, Cormac McQuinn’s critical piece in the Daily Mail back in July provides a useful introduction to the Dublin MEP. That Slugger piece from 2006 links back to Mitchell’s address to the annual Fine Gael Collins-Griffith memorial in August 2006 on the Fine Gael website, an item which is no longer accessible (or archived) although some quotes and more comments can be read here and here. …

Will the McGuinness candidacy be an audacious use of Sinn Fein’s kitchen sink?

Mick Fealty on September 19, 2011, 9:38 am

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Áras an Uachtaráin - residence of the Irish President, and soon to be home to Northern Irish bees

So who says the cutest hoors in Ireland are all from Dublin? We have one or two of our own in Belfast [And Carrigart? – Ed]. On Friday, Eamonn Mallie asked on Twitter why Martin McGuinness’ nascent bid to run for Irish President hadn’t got a mention on the Late Late Show made no mention of the only story in Belfast town. Instead Tubridy and Co were focused on the Norris confession that he’s thinking about re-entry, in the context …

Fine Gael rises and Labour falls in latest Sunday Times poll…

Mick Fealty on September 6, 2011, 8:46 am

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Via World by Storm (since I’m too tight to take out even a daily sub on the Sunday Times) that poll at the weekend. General election results in brackets. Fine Gael 44% (36) Fianna Fail 15% (17) Sinn Fein 13% (10) Labour 12% (19) Greens 2% (2) IND/others 12% (15) Interestingly the biggest change is on the government side with Fine Gael benefiting from what WbS refers to as a mudguard effect. I’d quibble somewhat with that, in that it’s …

Ó Muircheartaigh: “I never said I was interested in being a candidate”

Pete Baker on August 26, 2011, 3:44 pm

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GAA commentator Micháel Ó Muircheartaigh echoes Gay Byrne in ruling himself out of the race for the Áras. From the Irish Times report Mr Ó Muircheartaigh last night announced that he would not be putting himself forward as a candidate but that he was honoured to be asked to run. Speaking this morning, Mr Ó Muircheartaigh (81) said he had been approached by members of a number of political parties – which he declined to name – but that he …

Taoiseach’s speech: An end to ‘Never explain, never apologise’?

Mick Fealty on July 21, 2011, 11:42 am

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The papers are full of the taoiseach’s speech to the Dail yesterday. Rightly so. It was an audacious speech, and one made in stark contrast to the parliamentary mumbling and stumbling of the two previous taoisigh. And, importantly, it was a defence of thousands upon thousands of ordinary Catholics, ‘who have been shocked and dismayed by the repeated failings of church authorities to face up to what is required’. Somewhere in the Irish media in the last few days, someone …

Coalition needs to keep its collective eye on the Brussels game…

Mick Fealty on April 2, 2011, 11:30 am

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All politics is local, except when it comes to an Irish banking crisis. As Paul Gillespie notes in today’s Irish Times: Ireland is more deeply entangled with its partners in the European Union as a result of the banking crisis and the measures taken by the new Government to resolve it. That is part of a more general process called Europeanisation by writers on the subject. It makes European issues part of domestic politics. Politicisation of the issues makes them …