So it looks like we will be having another referendum in Ireland this year. Unfortunately its not the long awaited Children’s Right Referendum, but a referendum to remove Article 35.5 from Bunreacht na hEireann. That article states The remuneration of a judge shall not be reduced during his continuance in office. This article was included to ensure that the Government of the day did not punish judges through their pay. While this may have been seen as an important safeguard in the...
So following on from my post “Race for the Aras” its time to look at the parties candidates for the Presidency elections. First up is Fine Gael. Back in April the first candidate out of the block was current Ireland East MEP Mairead McGuinness announced her decision to seek Fine Gael’s nomination for the presidency. Since then there as been many changes. Former Taoiseach John Bruton and Ireland South MEP have ruled themseleves out of the running. Gay Mitchel,...
This Column appeared in the Cork Independent on Thursday 26th May 2011 I joined Fine Gael in 2004. If someone told me on that day, that in seven years time Enda Kenny would be welcoming the British Queen and American President to Ireland as the leader of the largest party in Dáil Eireann and the Toaiseach of the largest Government Majority in coalition with Labour. I probably would have laughed in their face and said in your dreams. During...
This year sees one of the most hotly contested Presidential elections in years. With candidates declaring from all parties and none, it will be interesting to see who actually makes it on to the ballot paper. It is notoriously difficult to get a nomination as Dana found out in 2004 when she attempted to run against the current President Mary McAleese. To be nominated candidates need 20 Oireachtas members to nominate them or 4 city or county councils. The...
This morning I awoke to the sad news that former Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald had passed away. “Garret the Good” as he was known was always someone held in high regard in my family. He is one of the Giants of Irish Politics. He gave his all to Irish Politics and was a shining example of active citizenship in this country. He was the founding fathers of Young Fine Gael as part of his reorganisation of Fine Gael in 1977....
As part of my tweeting from the We The Citizens event I shall be interacting (well attempting to) with everyone else who is watching the events unfold! You can also take part using the tag #citizens Do check out the Liveblog Click Here. In the mean time check out my posts on We the Citizens. VLOG: We the Citizens We The Citizens hits Cork this week We The Citizens
So ahead of tonights We The Citizens event in the Clarion Cork tonight I decided to a Video Blog! Its mainly about the reactions I have gotten to bringing up the We the Citizens event and around citizens involvement, oh I hate cynical viewpoints! Do let me know what you think! PS Don’t forget I will be tweeting from the event tonight! So do follow me on twitter! Related articles We The Citizens hits Cork this week. (stephenspillane.com) We The...
On Wednesday, We The Citizens are holding their event in Cork this week. The event is taking place in the Clarion Hotel in Cork at 6:15pm. To attend sign up on their website. To see what happened in Killkenny see the video below or check out what was said and the big talking points I will be tweeting from the event so make sure follow me on twitter of follow the #citizens tag. I may run a live blog...
You may read in the papers and on the internet that Fingal County Council have nominated Senator David Norris for the Presidency. Unfortunately for Senator Norris, this nomination will not count towards the four he needs. This is because the Election has not yet been called and therefore nominations cannot be made. This is covered under the Presidential Elections Act 1993. Under Section 16 of the act a Council is given the right to nominate a candidate. The only...
Its nearly here and I can barely hide my excitement! Tomorrow it all starts! The first Semi Final of the 56th Eurovision Song Contest gets under way with 19 countries fighting out for 10 places in the final on Saturday. I have a full preview up on ESC Ireland but I think the following countries will qualify: Russia Serbia Croatia Hungary Greece Albania Switzerland Finland Armenia Azerbaijan Turkey may make it also! Its my reserve pick! You can make...
On the 9th of May each year we mark the Anniversay of the Schuman Declaration. This declaration made by French Minister for Foreign Affairs Robert Schuman in 1950, set the basis for what would has become the European Union. 61 years later and with the EU at a crossroad due to the financial crisis and the lessening impact it has around the world, it its only right we look back at the declation which started it all and remind...
I got this via email, and for those interested in the UN Human Right Council or Human Rights in Ireland should definitely attend these meetings. I am going to try and attend the Cork meeting and will try and tweet from it. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter T.D. and the Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health, Kathleen Lynch T.D. are inviting members of the public and organisations to take part in public consultation meetings to...
The Seanad elections are continuing today and the count for the Labour Panel took place yesterday and concluded last night. There was 21 candidates for 11 seats. 4 candidates had to be elected on each sub-panel. The following were elected: Maurice Cummins (FG) 1st Count (outside panel) Healy-Eames, Fidelma (FG) 4th Count (inside panel) Maloney, Maire (Lab) 6th Count (outside panel) Cullinane, David (SF) 9th Count (inside panel) Mulcahy, Tony (FG) 13th Count (inside panel) Keane, Cait (FG) 13th...
The count for the Agricultural Panel started last night and has continued today in Leinster House. 28 candidates battled it out for 11 seats on this Seanad panel. The quota for this panel was 88,834. At least four candidates must be elected from each sub-panel. The following have been elected. Heffernan, James (Lab) 1st Count (inside panel) Burke, Paddy (FG) 8th Count (outside panel) Bradford, Paul (FG) 14th Count (outside panel) Ó Clochartaigh, Trevor (SF) 17th Count (inside panel)...
The count for the Cultural and Educational Panel came to a close yesterday evening with 5 candidates elected. They were in the following order: Clune, Deridre (FG) 10th Count (inside panel) Ó’Murchú, Labhras (FF) 13th Count (outside panel) Byrne, Thomas (FF) 13th Count (inside panel) Gilroy, John (Lab) 14th Count (inside panel) Mullins , Michael (FG) 14th Count (outside panel) Mullins was elected without reaching the quota. Personally I am delighted to see that Clune was elected to the...
Number of candidates: 17 Number of seats: 5 Total poll: 1065 Quota: 178 Results: BOYHAN, Victor 44 (44,000) BYRNE, Thomas 129 (129,000) CLUNE, Deirdre 103 (103,000) DELANEY, Conor 16 (16,000 GILROY, John 157 (157,000) HOGAN, Nichola 27 (27,000) IRISH, Anne-Maria 25 (25,000) KENNDY, Pat 32 (32,000) McCARTIN, John 68 (68,000) MULLINS, Michael 78 (78,000) O’DEA, Jim 11 (11,000) Ó MURCHÚ, Labhrás 104 (104,000) ORMONDE, Ann 66 (66,000) QUINLAN, Hilary 47 (47,000) QUINN, Liam 23 (23,000) TORMEY, Bill 49 (49,000)...
Here are the first tally results for the Cultural and Education Panel: 1. Gilroy Lab 157 2. Byrne FF 129 3. O Murchu FF 105 4. Clune FG 103 5. Walsh FF 85 6. Mullins FG 77 7. McCartin FG 68 8. Ormonde FF 66 9. Tormey FG 49 10. Quinlan FG 47 11. Boyhan IND 44 12. Kennedy FG 32 13. Hogan FG 27 14. Irish FG 25 15. Quinn FG 23 16. Delaney FG 16 17. O’Dea...
The sorting of ballots for the Vocational Panels for elections to Seanad Eireann has been completed in Leinster House. It is expected that the first count will get underway at around 2:15pm. From the sorting of votes we know the following: 1073 ballots recieved 4 rejected Valid poll 1069 The first panel to be counted will be the Culture and Educational. This is a 5 seat panel and there are 18 candidates. This is split as 13 on the...
This year the people of Northern Ireland will go to the polls to elect 108 MLA’s to the Northern Ireland Assembly on May 5th. The current standings of the parties are as follows: Democratic Unionist Party: 36 Sinn Fein: 27 Ulster Unionist Party: 18 Social Democratic and Labour Party: 16 Alliance Party: 7 Green Party: 1 Independents: 5 The campaign is well under way since the Assembly was dissolved on 24th of March and a number of issues have...
Today Micheal Martin announced his knew frontbench. It would seem that their is a job for everyone in the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party, plus a councillor. Here is the full list: Leader and Spokesperson on Northern Ireland: Micheál Martin TD Deputy Leader and Spokesperson on Finance: Brian Lenihan TD Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade (also Party Whip): Seán Ó Fearghail TD Spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Financial Sector Reform: Michael McGrath TD Spokesperson on Public Sector Reform: Sean...
We The Citizens launched today. Its an interesting idea that is trying to get people to stand up and get involved to change Ireland. They plan to hold a National Citizens Assembly in June following events in n Kilkenny, Cork, Galway, Athlone, Letterkenny and Dublin. I shall be attending the event in Cork. We The Citizens plans on keeping the pressure on politicians to reform our country for the better and ensure that they keep their promises. It will be an interesting...
I am on the mailing for Yes2AV and today they sent out a preview of their broadcast tonight for the referendum on May 5th. This will be the first broadcast and it will be aired at 5:55pm on BBC 1 and an hour later on BBC 2 and ITV. I think it is a really smart broadcast and focuses and all the relevant stuff. Must say it has impressed me hugely. Related articles AV Special: What is it? How...
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