Meath East: First tallies make FG early favourites…

For those of you who have never been to an Irish count, here’s the first boxes being opened… The atmosphere is not unlike a country Mart… It will get more crowded as the day goes on… So far, here’s the tallies for the first preference vote… Final joint tally: FF 33.43%; Ben Gilroy 6.55; Lab 3.90; FG 38.41; SF 12.92 #mhe13 @irishtimespol @irishtimes — mary minihan (@minihanmary) March 28, 2013 The greybeards are saying that the FF candidate needs to …

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Could Fianna Fail’s debt arbitration bill be the difference in Meath East?

Ah, John beat me to a good analysis of the Meath East by election. I’d go with most of it, except for the inference that party policy is no different between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. It’s a popular line in the media and particularly beloved by political rivals! It does carries a certain truth since no one in mainstream Irish politics has ever been particularly wedded to ideology. The very first government after independence introduced eye wateringly tight fiscal …

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