Search Results for 'Michael Fitzmaurice'

Minister Ciaran Cannon has this week hit out at ‘flippant language’ by an Independent TD on the issue of using force against burglars, warning that the use of force by householders in the event of encountering an intruder should always be the very last resort.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! I could apply that quote to the Mayo Advertiser asking me to return for a one-off All-Ireland final article or to Mayo football itself. Either way, I am delighted to be in this position in mid-September. As ardent football fans we have been deservedly rewarded in this county. Supporters have fed off our team’s energy and vice versa. That relationship is an essential component for a successful season so do what you can to make it to Dublin this weekend and bring the colour, bring the noise. When the 66-year drought ends this Sunday and the pent-up euphoria is unleashed with little hope of abating, my one concern is that the names of the men who built a football-loving county and laid the foundations for thousands of fanatics and players may be lost in the many celebratory renditions of The Green and Red of Mayo.

It only seems like yesterday that rural Ireland was standing up to the Dublin 4 diktat. Luke 'Ming' Flanagan was in the Dáil and the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association was waging a crusade which took rural areas by storm. Ming and Michael Fitzmaurice, backed by an able backroom team, were uniting people against the over-centralised Irish State and its masters in Brussels and Berlin.

With the formation of a new Government seemingly imminent, following Fianna Fáil’s agreement with Fine Gael to support a minority, FG-led administration, speculation now turns to how many, if any, Galway TDs may be in contention for ministries.

It is fashionable to be Independent at the moment, but given the record of Independents nationally and locally, Insider is not exactly sure why. True, political parties are not that popular right now, and Independents do not have to carry that baggage, but what have they ever actually done? What is their purpose?

This Voices for Change conference takes place in Breaffy House, Castlebar, this weekend, starting this evening, Friday, and will carry on tomorrow, Saturday. The conference will explore the policies and agenda for government for those who are an alternative to FG/FF/Labour. The opening session, titled ’Rescuing Town and Country from The Two Tier Economy’, will also highlight the political culture that has allowed vested interests and political patronage to converge against the common good, and how to undo that, particularly in the areas of renewable energy, water, housing, and regional imbalances.

The alarming activities of feral criminal gangs who roam the countryside preying on innocent victims was once again highlighted in unequivocal terms last week. Armed with a shotgun, handgun, and machete, seven thugs terrorised Mark and Emma Corcoran and their three young daughters during a violent robbery, which took place at their home in Tipperary on the night of November 20, 2013. The details of this devastating attack has shocked Ireland and the idea that such violence and brutality could be witnessed by three children is sickening and extremely frightening. Indeed, if it was not for the fast thinking actions of Mrs Corcoran to make a 999 call and leave her phone active under her bed, these criminals may still be walking our streets today and inflicting further mayhem on rural Ireland.

For many years Galway East was known as the dullest and most predicable of constituencies, reliably returning the same three TDs. Population growth and boundary changes saw the constituency gain a fourth seat in 1997, however, and this has given rise to some heated battles between the big two parties as well as seeing the emergence of Independent and Labour challenges.

If it is early September it must be political 'think-in' season, when each of the parties, in turn, descend son hotels in various parts of the country to discuss strategy ahead of the commencement of the new Dáil term.