How will Budget 2012 really affect Irish politics?

Thu, Dec 15, 2011

While the new FG/Labour coalition has had several big ‘set piece occasions’ since coming to power – the renegotiation of the EU/IMF agreement and the jobs initiative during the summer for example – last week’s Budget was always going to be a watershed moment.

What have Labour ever done for us?

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

The shock resignation of ‘Super’ Junior Minister for Housing Willie Penrose in recent weeks has rocked the Labour Party in the lead up to the first Budget which the Coalition will soon deliver.

Labour backbenchers, councillors, and activists throughout the State have been “taking it in the neck” from the public who are incensed with the “kite flying” emanating from all Government departments.

ULA to hold ‘Alternative to Austerity’ meeting

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

The United Left Alliance Galway’s Alternative to Austerity event, which takes place this Sunday, is set to be, a “public meeting to explore alternatives to the Government’s slash-and-burn agenda”.

Back to the future with Michael D and Giovanni Trapattoni?

Thu, Nov 24, 2011

“We must seek to build together an active, inclusive citizenship; based on participation, equality, respect for all, and the flowering of creativity in all its forms. A confident people is our hope, a people at ease with itself, a people that grasps the deep meaning of the proverb; Ní neart go cur le chéile’ - our strength lies in our common weal - our social solidarity.”

City council meetings - sniping, grandstanding, and long-winded bores

Thu, Nov 17, 2011

“The minutes seem like hours,” Mayor Hildegarde Naughton once sang in a performance of the Leonard Bernstein musical West Side Story.

Europe probably has a Plan B, but does Ireland?

Thu, Nov 17, 2011

While it may not admit it, it is hard to imagine the EU not having a Plan B if the unthinkable - or rather not as unthinkable as it was six months ago - happens and the euro ceases to be.

Does Ireland have a Plan B though? Enda Kenny’s reply to that very question by Shane Ross gave us a response which was a cross between ‘we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it/we’ve a few ideas floating around’ type response, which certainly does not inspire confidence.

Will President Higgins speak for the people or the establishment?

Thu, Nov 10, 2011

Tomorrow will see former Galway Mayor and Galway West TD Michael D Higgins become the ninth president of Ireland. It will be a proud day for everyone from the city and county he has called home for the last 50 years.

The lead up to the inauguration has led Insider to consider some of the values Michael D espouses; his idea that ‘The future is unwritten and we should never accept as inevitable anything that authority presents to us as so’; the need to renew the Republic; a politics based on citizenship and people first; and equality for all.

Will President Higgins speak for the people or the establishment?

Thu, Nov 10, 2011

Tomorrow will see former Galway Mayor and Galway West TD Michael D Higgins become the ninth president of Ireland. It will be a proud day for everyone from the city and county he has called home for the last 50 years.

Tiochfaidh ár lá sa Ghaillimh?

Thu, Sep 22, 2011

“Sinn Féin, whether we agree with it and accept what it says or not, is an organisation brimful with answers to our problems and they are answers, in the main, that directly confront the policies being pursued by other parties.”

Sinn Féin to hold major conference in Galway

Thu, Sep 22, 2011

Galway will be the location for a major Sinn Féin conference, entitled Towards a New Republic – I dTreo Poblacht Nua, which will be addressed by party president Gerry Adams.

Local democracy? It’s just a myth

Thu, Sep 15, 2011

“The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use - of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public - Robert F Kennedy

Local democracy? It’s just a myth

Thu, Sep 15, 2011

“The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use - of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public - Robert F Kennedy

City councillors - all revved up with nowhere to go

Thu, Sep 08, 2011

Monday’s emergency Galway City Council meeting to tackle traffic congestion had a lot in common with the gridlock that it aspired to solve - it was stop-start, slow-moving, tempers became frayed, and after four hours you realised that you hadn’t actually got anywhere.

Mayor demands traffic action from City Hall officials

Thu, Sep 08, 2011

The “ball is now firmly in the court” of Galway City Council officials to provide solutions to solve the city’s traffic problems as waiting for long term infrastructural developments is not good enough.

This is the view of the Mayor of Galway Hildegarde Naughton who, at Monday’s city council meeting, put forward a motion calling on the officials and the Gardaí to carry out such co-ordination “with immediate effect”. The motion was carried by a majority vote of 12/3.

No winners in Norrisgate saga

Thu, Jul 21, 2011

There are no winners in this whole sorry saga. Sen David Norris’ bid to address the Galway City Council looks set to be rejected for a third time; Mayor Hildegarde Naughton looks certain to compound her new found reputation as Galway politics’ ‘Calamity Jane’, and Michael J Crowe has come out of this none too well either.

Was joining the €uro really a good idea?

Thu, Jul 14, 2011

The fallout from the most dramatic economic collapse imaginable over these past three years, coming after the incredible highs of more than a decade of the fabled or now much-maligned ‘Celtic Tiger’, has produced plenty of reviews and reassessments of that period in Irish history and of the decisions taken.

Most of the attention has focused on the domestic policy of Irish governments in that time - the slashing of taxes, ramping up of public expenditure to buy votes, the excessive focus on the construction sector, and poor (some would say non-existent) banking regulation, for instance.

Did Naughton sacrifice principles for prestige?

Thu, Jul 07, 2011

Last week’s dramatic mayoral election summoned to mind the pithy observation of former US president Dwight D Eisenhower: “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”

Greek activist to speak at public meeting on EU/IMF bailout

Thu, Jul 07, 2011

Greek political activist Giannis Koutras will address a public meeting in Galway tomorrow on the issue of the bank and EU/IMF bailouts.

Kyne, Cannon, and Higgins - Are they Galway’s rising political stars

Thu, Jun 16, 2011

The dust has settled; the new Government has come through its first 100 days; Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and US president Barack Obama have been and gone; Garrett the Good, Declan Costello, and Brian Lenihan - three icons of Irish politics - have passed to their eternal reward. What a first six months of 2011 this has been.

The political landscape has changed fundamentally in the State. Here in Galway we have seen fundamental changes also, with six new TDs and two new senators elected to represent us for the lifetime of the current Government - however long that might be.

The contemplative benefits of a morning in Galway’s dole office

Thu, May 05, 2011

RECENTLY INSIDER spent a morning in Galway’s dole office. It was a fruitless stay in the financial sense, but it proved to be beneficial in a contemplative way.

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