Labour’s red rose set to bloom

Thu, Apr 02, 2009

Last weekend’s national Labour Party conference in Mullingar set out its platform for the forthcoming elections.

The art of Fianna Fáil-ure

Thu, Apr 02, 2009

Conor Casby’s nude portraits of Brian Cowen, which have been causing a sensation these last few days, reminded me of a story I once heard about Brendan Behan.

Josette leads Labour’s new charge in the county

Thu, Apr 02, 2009

Right now and heading into June’s Local Elections is a good time to be a candidate for The Labour Party. Labour could take four - perhaps if lucky five - seats in the Galway City Council, but can it do the same in the county?

The party has only one county councillor - Colm Keaveney - and Labour knows that it has an uphill battle to secure more seats in areas that have traditionally been barren ground.

Is Fianna Fáil out to get Josie Conneely?

Thu, Mar 26, 2009

What is Fianna Fáil doing in Connemara? The fortress of Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív is grinding slowly, very slowly, to making a decision regarding the team that will contest the Local Elections on June 5.

Budget choices will determine our future

Thu, Mar 26, 2009

After the justified hoopla from Ireland’s rugby grand slam and Bernard Dunne’s boxing heroics, all eyes will be focused on the forthcoming Budget on April 7.

A ‘burst’ Fianna Fáil

Thu, Mar 26, 2009

“Before we go any further let’s have the split”. It’s a phenomenon the used to plague Sinn Féin until recently, but it looks like it might happen in that other Republican party Fianna Fáil - or at least its Galway city branch.

Sixth candidate enters EU North West race

Thu, Mar 26, 2009

A new Independent Donegal based candidate, Fiachra Ó Luain, has entered the race to win an EU seat for the three seat North West constituency in June’s European Elections.

Mr Ó Luain, a 27-year-old from Carndonagh, Co Donegal, is the latest entrant into the election race that includes Fianna Fáil MEP Sean Ó Neachtain, Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins, Independent MEP Marian Harkin, Libertas founder Declan Ganley, and Sinn Féin Cllr Pádraig MacLochlainn.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

Thu, Mar 26, 2009

Could it be that the political resurrection of Val Hanley is almost complete? That in its hour of need Fianna Fáil are looking to him to help win back a seat in Galway City West?

The heart of banking regulation

Thu, Mar 12, 2009

The Great Depression of 1929 is the only economic event comparable to our current morass. A post mortem study in the 1930s into the cause of the Wall Street crash concluded that it was due to deregulation of the financial sector.

The hacks are already creating the mayoral pacts

Thu, Mar 12, 2009

Although nominations have yet to close for June’s Local Elections, attentions are already being focused on the likely results and the potential mayoral pacts that may be created post June.

Most support a ban on election posters but making it a reality will be difficult

Thu, Mar 12, 2009

At Monday’s Galway City Council meeting, Independent Cllr Donal Lyons will call for a “voluntary ban on all political posters in the city area for the forthcoming Local and European elections”.

If the political poster goes, what will replace it?

Thu, Mar 12, 2009

There is a growing movement - or, more accurately, a growing feeling - that the day of the election poster is coming to an end. If it is though, what might replace it?

What breed of Independent are you?

Thu, Mar 05, 2009

The American columnist Franklin P Adams wrote in 1944 that: “Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody.”

Economics now engulf our politics

Thu, Mar 05, 2009

The Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis, recent opinion polls, and normal political activity are all being overshadowed by the perilous state of the economy. I have always believed that politics follows economics – to coin Bill Clinton’s phrase “It’s the economy, stupid”.

Ó Neachtáin goes public on fear of Bonner candidacy

Thu, Mar 05, 2009

You have to feel sorry for Fianna Fáil North West MEP Sean Ó Neachtáin. He serves the party loyally in Galway and Europe and yet, when it comes to elections, HQ seem to be permanently trying to undermine him.

No one is betting on any councillor just yet

Thu, Mar 05, 2009

While people talk about Billy Cameron, Brian Walsh, Declan McDonnell, Padraig Conneely, etc, as on course to keep their seats, people are unwilling to place any bets on the 2009 Local Elections just yet.

Fianna Fáil in disarray in the county

Thu, Feb 26, 2009

The 2009 Local Election is little more than three months away and Fianna Fáil in Galway is in disarray.

Fine Gael can’t pander to disaffected groups

Thu, Feb 26, 2009

After the disastrous rout in the 2002 General Election Fine Gael was reduced to 30 seats. They have since steadily rebuilt the party. Over recent months they have out-polled FF – the latest poll gave them a 10 point lead, albeit with a lower rating of 32 per cent. During the last election I predicted they could not win because they had simply too many seats to make up.

They now have a solid platform of more than 50 deputies. They got a good intake of new articulate TDs in 2007. Leo Varadkar, Lucinda Creighton, Dr James O’Reilly, and Kieran O’Donnell are all making a good impression.

Fine Gael can’t pander to disaffected groups

Thu, Feb 26, 2009

After the disastrous rout in the 2002 General Election Fine Gael was reduced to 30 seats. They have since steadily rebuilt the party. Over recent months they have out-polled FF – the latest poll gave them a 10 point lead, albeit with a lower rating of 32 per cent. During the last election I predicted they could not win because they had simply too many seats to make up.

Lucrative payments to TDs must go says Grealish

Thu, Feb 26, 2009

If the Government sees fit to introduce a pension levy on public sector workers, then it must also end the practice of paying ministerial pensions to sitting TDs.

E-paper

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