It looks like the only significant part that Joe Reilly will be playing in the Meath by election is through his transfers. However you play with the percentages, one thing is clear: his core vote has held. But as the only main runner with a high local profile (he first ran for the Dail seat here in 1997) and with a fair wind from voters in other parties, he might have hoped to be in the final run in. Is …
Too early to say yet, but the forecast for Joe Reilly’s vote in Meath was put at 14.9%. At the moment there’s nothing but rumours, but the lowest figure we’ve heard so far is 12%, and the highest is 16%. Let us know if you’ve heard better! 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 weekend’s headlines should come from Meath, where Joe Reilly, who came close to taking a seat in the Republics last general election may well hold up the Sinn Fein vote his in the constituency. The Belfast Telegraph reckons that anything less than third place will represent a slide. If his vote holds up in current circumstances, he will surely be counted in the first rank of the next generation of Sinn Fein TDs. Update: Richard’s going to be blogging …
It’s just over a year since the British Council in Dublin launched the Through Irish Eyes report. The week after next it launches a series of essays on the island’s complex cultural and political relationships with Britain and Leviathan cabaret featuring a panel discussion on “What have the British ever done for us?” You can set the scene for the set piece debate by banging in your answer to the formal proposal: “This house believes Britain is just another foreign …
This is getting to be something a bad soap opera. The Irish Independent claims that the party has claimed more than €1.5m from the Republic’s taxpayers last year. The Labour party has produced a draft Electoral (Amendment) Bill to give effect to law that could suspend payments to the party in the Republic as well as Stormont.”Under such a law, the biggest potential loss for Sinn Fein would be its annual Party Leader’s Allowance which came to €285,550 last year …
One thing that’s immediately obvious when spending any time in and around Leinster House is the general indifference towards a united Ireland. There is also a heavy workload facing the Oireachtas, especially in regard of monitoring EU directives. But Jarlath Kearney reports on Sinn Fein’s latest call for a Green Paper on the subject. The party’s proposals to progress “practical planning for a united Ireland” include urging the Taoiseach’s office to bring forward a green paper within 12 months, which …
The Examiner reports, “A Church of Ireland clergyman, who was driven from his Northern home, has said Orange zealots should be banned from taking part in Cork’s St Patrick’s Day parade.” Hat tip Maca!”Rev Armstrong, his wife June, and their children, Sarah and Mark, were forced to flee their home in Limavaddy, Co Derry, in the Eighties after extending the hand of friendship to Catholic neighbours. They lived across the road from a Catholic Church which was bombed in 1985. …
While today’s Dail debates a motion calling for “complete IRA decommissioning and an end to all paramilitary and criminal activity” by the republican movement, 50 years ago the Seanad was dealing with a motion highlighting what Dr. Sheehy Skeffington called the then Government’s failure “to take any active steps to stop in the Republic of Ireland open recruiting, drilling and the possession of arms by private military organisations”. If it all seems quite familiar, that’s because it is.Skeffington began by …
Irish opposition parties will today seek all-party support for a private member’s motion in Dail “calling on the Republican movement to abandon all violence and fully embrace democracy”. The motion should be debated tonight from 7 GMT tonight. You can follow it online: try logging on here. Question Time today (2.30 GMT) and leader’s questions (4.15 GMT) may also provide good value!Sean Farren welcomes the opportunity to open the issue in the Dail chamber: This debate is timely. In the …
The RealityCheckDotie blog says that the recent controversy over the President’s remarks on the Irish parallels with the Nazi persecution of the Jews, glides over some deeply embarrassing realities of Ireland’s own past self-conduct.For instance: The pogrom of Jews in Limerick in the early 1900’s is known of, as is DeValera’s refusal to take in Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. But it is not widely discussed. It too is often overlooked. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written …
The Limerick Leader is convinced that the Northern Bank raid has seen any deal to gain early release for the killers of Garda McCabe as definatively off the table. 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
President de Valera rebukes the IRA THE Irish Republican Army was rebuked by Mr Eamon de Valera, president of the Free State Executive, in an address in Dublin last night. After stating that the government had been very patient during the last three years, he said their hopes that common sense would prevail had apparently been misplaced. The use of violence against the forces of the government and individual citizens had continued. Recently the life of a citizen was taken …
As one keen observer of public opinion in the Republic told Slugger this morning, one of the most extraordinary results of the bank raid has been the shift in public sentiment away from northern Irish Nationalists towards Unionist opinion, possibly for the first time since partition. Indeed, it seems Bertie is taking steps to make sure the DUP is not left out of the loop on current developments. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on …
A provocative piece by Lindy McDowell in the Belfast Telegraph this evening,(hat-tip to Andrew at ATW).Shinners in the altogetherIt starts with : The IRA – their only crime was robbery. That, in a T-shirt slogan, just about sums up the odd attitude many people, particularly in the south of Ireland, have to the sectarian killing machine that is Provisional IRA. Murdering almost 2,000 people, mutilating tens of thousands more, ripping apart lives, communities, town centres… all these things the IRA …
The semi state bodies in the Republic were part of the economic renaissance envisaged by Sean Lemass and ably assisted by his economic advisor TK Whittaker. However, Tony over at the Tallright blog believes the time has come for the Irish government to take a deep breath and sell off the ailing national airline in order to save it from terminal (no pun intended) decline. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of …
Don’t forget road signs in the Republic go metric from midnight tonight. As it is not possible to make a direct read over from one system to the other, there are growing concerns that some schools will have the speed limit rounded up, rather than down on the roads outside. More detail on the changeover at the Go Metric website. And don’t forget to change when you cross the border! Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written …
Hat Tip to Young Irelander for this story – McConville Murder Not a Crime-McLaughlin. The murder of Jean McConville was “wrong but not a crime” and the IRA are the legitimate government of Ireland ? Oh dear Mitchel, that drives a coach and horses through SF’s position on participation in the Dáil and the GFA! Ambrose Uprichard
To those who doubt the value of a billigual education, here’s one school that’s scored a spectacular success in the Republic. 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
Today’s Irish Examiner editorial makes the valid point that, having made his position on who was responsible for the robbery clear, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s authority and credibility are now on the line – “TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s unequivocal claim that Sinn Féin leaders knew during recent power-sharing talks the IRA was planning the £26.5 million Belfast bank heist will count for nothing unless he is prepared to impose sanctions”Full editorial: “TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s unequivocal claim that Sinn Féin leaders knew during …
According to RTE, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has stated that, in his view, “This [the Northern Bank heist] was an IRA job, a Provisional IRA job which would have been known to the political leadership” – confirming the views reported by Paul T Colgan and Pat Leahy in the Sunday Business Post article. Update – UTV has further quotes Pete Baker
