Republic – Page 66 – Slugger O'Toole

“which would make the transaction almost untraceable..”

Pete Baker on September 25, 2007, 1:53 am

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Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was back in front of the Mahon Tribunal today and, while he may have emerged “with fists clenched” [He’ll be back in front of tribunal, btw – Ed], the problem is, as Cian at Irish Election says, “the core issue for Ahern is that [the] answers are not good enough to put the innuendo, the whiff, the intangible intuition, that there might be something askew to bed.” In addition to the previous uncertainty, those answers reveal that …

Ogra Fianna Fail to organise in NI Unis…

Mick Fealty on September 24, 2007, 3:05 pm

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Well, if it is serious about organising in Northern Ireland, Bertie Ahern will have to build from the bottom up as well as any top down deal with the SDLP. Politics.ie reports that it will recruiting at Queens and the University of Ulster tomorrow and Wednesday. It comes on the heel of Alisdair McDonnell’s statement that his party, the SDLP, and FF will firm up ties (“five, six, seven years”?). You can hear a fascinating full interview here. Mick FealtyMick …

Sinn Fein need to engage with intractable political realities…

Mick Fealty on September 24, 2007, 2:52 pm

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Phil, a guest blogger at the Dreaming Arm blog, has good analysis and some interesting responses on Sinn Fein’s poor show in the Republic’s election in May. He argues that the battle-a-day scenario once promised us would not serve to strengthen the party’s appeal in the south, and any overt action to destabilise the settlement would similarly erode its image as a credible political creature.He concludes: Sinn Féin, if it is to retain its position as the leading nationalist party …

“no big deal..”

Pete Baker on September 21, 2007, 2:07 am

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We’ve been remiss in not noting Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s delayed appearances in front of the Mahon Tribunal, but the absence of conclusive records of a money trail means that what we’ll end up with is likely to be speculative rather than potentially incriminating.. after all, it’s not as if he was signing blank cheques for someone.. ANYhoo.. Irish Election has been following each day’s appearance, and there’s at least one more to come. But there are a few reports worth …

O’Leary to go law over Aer Lingus Belfast switch?

Mick Fealty on September 20, 2007, 4:38 pm

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Hmmm… curiouser and curiouser… It seems Ryanair are powerless to call an EGM without Irish Government support, so now are talking about resorting to law. Hmmm… so that 25.1% stake (retained by the state to protect key interests including landing slots at London Heathrow), what was that all about then? 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 …

Is Sinn Fein the prospective meat in Bertie’s sangwich?

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2007, 10:37 pm

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There is little doubt that Bertie Ahern has set the cat amongst the pigeons with his announcement that his party will look to organise in Northern Ireland. I’ve laid out a few extended thoughts on Comment is Free. Paul thinks that cross border developments of all kinds on and between these islands are good (and inevitably limited) and that Sir Reg should probably ‘chill’, or even seek out his own East West partnerships. And in AOB, Mitchel McLaughlin still wants …

“Belfast is outside that jurisdiction.”

Pete Baker on September 13, 2007, 4:49 pm

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While others may still be pressing for a meeting, RTÉ reports that the Irish Labour court has answered a question that I suggested should have been fairly clear. The Labour Court Chairman Kevin Duffy has told Aer Lingus management and cabin crew that it considers Belfast to be a foreign base. Pete Baker

Mary Lou shortlisted for MEP of the Year…

Mick Fealty on September 8, 2007, 2:54 pm

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Mary Lou may have taken a blow in the recent elections, but clearly her time in Brussels has consisted of more than the photo ops much of her coverage at home has consisted of. Although the awards have only been in train for a couple of years, according to the Sunday Business Post she is the first Irish MEP to be shortlisted. Voting by all MEPs for the award takes place in September and the results will be announced at …

Gilmore takes Labour reins

Pete Baker on September 6, 2007, 5:16 pm

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With no other candidates standing against him [a new trend within Labour Parties? – Ed] RTÉ reports that Éamon Gilmore has been formally declared as the new leader of the Irish Labour Party following the resignation of Pat Rabbitte in light of the party’s poor election performance. More As usual from Cian at Irish Election including Éamon Gilmore’s acceptance speech Most people in this country want Labour to do better because they trust Labour to do our very best for …

Republic: a model for peace and democracy?

Mick Fealty on September 4, 2007, 8:42 pm

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As Pete notes our two big peacemakers have been ‘track twoing’ their experiences with Iraq. When it comes to peaceful societies, the Republic is streets ahead, running at number four in this Global Peace Index. It does pretty well in the Democracy index, scoring highly under Civil Liberties (10.00) and Electoral Process and Pluralism (9.58), and least well in, ahem, Political Participation (7.78). That would be the the content free, “Trust me, I’m a politician, the government, the opposition”, thing. …

There’s still life in the Shannon [No] Show..

Pete Baker on September 4, 2007, 8:33 pm

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The Shannon [No] Show may not be quite as over as it appeared, and I don’t mean because of the Fianna Fáil cumann in Co Clare. Aer Lingus’ largest shareholder (29.4 per cent), RyanAir, has ignored the official response from the Aer Lingus management and gone over their heads by “issu[ing] a notice to the stock exchange today of requisition under the Companies Act and Aer Lingus’s articles of association.” It’s an attempt to force Aer Lingus to hold the …

Bertie [finally] speaks on Shannon [No] Show..

Pete Baker on September 4, 2007, 1:09 am

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And he’s repeated the line from Irish Transport Minister Noel Dempsey, that “the focus must now be to get another operator into Shannon. He said the Government had no advance warning of the decision, adding that it contravened the Government’s aviation policy and the spatial strategy.” And according to that RTÉ report He also said there is no split within the Cabinet on the issue. So, where’s Willie?.. Could he be here, perhaps.. Just a thought.. Pete Baker

Bertie: “Okay Ian, right you be!’

Mick Fealty on September 2, 2007, 5:35 pm

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Ian Paisley wants dangerous dog legislation tightened in the Republic, Bertie Ahern is already on to it…. Hmmm, one to keep an eye on… 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. Twitter: @MickFealty

Paisley: Dublin should close ‘dangerous dog’ loophole…

Mick Fealty on September 1, 2007, 1:25 am

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Ian Paisley’s reaction to last night’s Spotlight on dog fighting? He “urged the authorities in Dublin to review legislation being exploited by gangs involved in illegal cross-border dog trading”. Some detail from the Panorama report Pete noted yesterday: The man from Dublin’s dog won. The other dog was so badly injured it couldn’t move. I’m not sure what happened to it but I had heard of what The Farmers’ Boys call the Tandragee bath. The “bath” is apparently world famous …

Shannon (No) Show gets a re-run..

Pete Baker on September 1, 2007, 1:15 am

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Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny’s late arrival to the debate over Aer Lingus’ tranfer from Shannon to Belfast has been somewhat over-shadowed by the annoncement by Aer Lingus that they have rejected RyanAir’s call for a Emergency General Meeting. Both stories also get an airing in this RTÉ report. It doesn’t change the fundamentals underpinning the decision though.. but whether any politician, our own local variety included, will articulate that case rather than following a locally populist, if non-sensical, line …

The trouble with ‘foolish consistency’…

Mick Fealty on August 30, 2007, 6:57 pm

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Nice Emerson quote from Brian Feeney, who reckons, not unreasonably, that Pat Rabbitte’s over zealous consistency was his political undoing…Feeney reckons that Mullingar was Rabbitte’s undoing: The origins of his failure lie in his incomprehensible decision to push the ill-fated Mullingar Accord through his party in 2004 tying Labour to the right-wing Fine Gael. To the consternation of many Labour TDs Rabbitte then supported Fine Gael spokespersons making a series of announcements on policy documents in the year before the …

Sinn Fein’s second defection…

Mick Fealty on August 30, 2007, 4:46 pm

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If one defection is unlucky; to lose two is downright careless. This column from the Southern Star almost anticipates the defection of Daniel Callanan, and reports widespread disaffection amongst Sinn Fein councillors with the directions from the top of the party to support Labour candidates in the Seanad elections. Not a disaster, but perhaps an intimation of the limits of ‘democratic centralism’? Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on …

Cabinet meet to defuse Shannon row..

Pete Baker on August 29, 2007, 5:41 pm

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The first meeting of the Irish Cabinet since the Dáil rose at the start of the summer takes place today and as the RTÉ report says – “The Cabinet is expected to spend a considerable amount of time trying to find ways of defusing the political and economic head of steam in the mid-west.” That would be on this issue. And it’s being reported that the Taoiseach’s inter-departmental group are expected “to conclude that Shannon airport is already well connected …

Contemplating the price of a unification process…

Mick Fealty on August 28, 2007, 1:50 pm

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Fergus Finlay argue in his Examiner column today that Shannon may only be the first of a series of prices inflicted by an island wide move towards a single market space: It has been an understated part of the strategy of both the British and Irish governments for many years that they should take every opportunity to develop any situations that have an all-Ireland dynamic to them. Some of the unionist and loyalist parties in the North might have professed …

Is the Republic a secular or a religious state?

Mick Fealty on August 28, 2007, 1:32 pm

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Turkey is scene of some of the most explicit tensions between a jealously secular republic and its post Islamist government (Morning Ireland). But, however faint, there may be similar echoes in the Irish Republic. Indeed, Conor Lenihan was somewhat stumped when when after asserting that Sikh Garda officers could not wear their turbans because they could not display religious symbols, Will Crawley asked whether such a ban should not also apply to crucifixes and crosses? It’s a theme ably followed …