As the election was announced yesterday, I noticed messages appearing in my Facebook feed like this one: It would seem that Fine Gael have launched a facebook widget which is linked from their website. It is an interesting move from the party and I wonder how it will play out on Facebook. I myself am a bit sceptical because it seems to be trying to use American Campaign techniques, and I am not sure how it will go down. It also is not...
So the Taoiseach has announced in the Dáil that the General Election will take place on Friday the 11th of March. So that gives us 49 days to campaign for Ireland’s future. I am looking forward to that! The Taoiseach also announced that Minsters will be double jobbing until that day. He announced the following portfolios. Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs: Brian Cowen Education and Health and Children: Mary Coughlan Community and Family Affairs and Transport: Pat Carey Agriculture and Justice:...
Image via Wikipedia So Fianna Fail are as divided as Fine Gael was last summer. The Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting gets under way at 5:30pm and is expected to last until around 9pm. The wording of the motion to be debated is reported to be “That the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party has confidence in Brian Cowen TD as leader of Fianna Fáil.” Its been a tough week for Brian Cowen in his office as Taoiseach and Leader of...
An interesting possibility has arisen from ALDE MEP’s. They want to move a meeting of the EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Joint Parliamentary Assembly to Brussels according to Euractiv (original in French and English) thereby boycotting Hunagary. This is seen as a democratic protest against the recent media law in Hungary. This law has met with opposition from within and without Hungary. The idea of this boycott came after Belgian MEP Louis Michel, co-chair of the EU-ACP assembly, called...
Today the House of Commons will consider as a Committee of the whole house, the European Union Bill. This will mean that in future the United Kingdom will have to hold a referendum on future treaties which amend the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Function of the European Union Under the Bill the UK will have to hold a referendum if the treaty meets one of these conditions: (a) the extension of the objectives of...
Image via Wikipedia The National Media and Infocommunications Authority Hungary (Nmhh) have published the Act on Media Services and Mass Media on their website in PDF format. It is nearly 200 pages long and is a tough read. Article 187 is what sets out the fines which has a lot of people worried (3) The Media Council and the Agency — with due heed to paragraph (7) — shall have the right to impose the following legal consequences: a)...
Image via Wikipedia EUBusiness is reporting that the fact that Hungary is the current holder of the rotating EU Presidency will not hold them back from launching proceedings if the new media law is found to be in breach of Community Law. “If there’s an infringement of community law, the Commission will launch proceedings and the fact Hungary presides the European Union will have no bearing,” Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said. … Bailly said EU legal experts would scrutinise...
The Anna Lindh Foundation have issued the following declaration in response to the terror attack a Christian Church in Alexandria, Egypt. The Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, which has its international headquarters in Alexandria (Egypt), expresses its deep sadness and pain about the terror attack which affected this city on the night of 31st December. The President of the Foundation, André Azoulay, and all of his team, wish to express their solidarity with the victims,...
Image via Wikipedia It was has not been a great start to its Presidency, Hungary is now digging its heels in response to criticism of its controversial media law. “It isn’t necessary to change a Hungarian law just because it is subject to criticism from abroad,” Zoltan Kovacs, state secretary for communication, told national radio. “Before criticising, let’s wait and see how this law works. We are confident it will be up to the task,” he added. Source This...
Image via Wikipedia Although they made sound like turkeys voting against Christmas, two Senators have made good arguments in favour of keeping Seanad Eireann. Yesterday speaking to the Irish Times, Independent Senator Joe O’Toole had the following to say, Speaking this afternoon, Sen. O’Toole acknowledged the existing arrangement was “undemocratic, unfair” and “unrepresentative” and described voting arrangements for the Upper House, where it does not have a universal mandate, as “indefensible”. However, the independent senator said the abolition of...
Image via Wikipedia Fine Gael have today have “stood down” the party website for 3 to 4 weeks and replaced it with a crowd-sourcing site to ask the people of Ireland their view on what the Parties policies should be. In an email to members launching the “new” site leader Enda Kenny had this to say: Fine Gael want to invite people from all walks of life to join with us and help build our plans and ideas for...
Image via Wikipedia So Fianna Fail have done a U-turn on the Seanad according to the Irish Times, they along with Fine Gael, Labour, the Green Party and Sinn Fein no longer want an upper house in the Oireachtas. Is this want the people of Ireland want? Do we want an unfeathered Dáil whos only check on power is the President, who’s powers at that are very limited. While I agree with those in favour of abolition that the...
Image via Wikipedia Radio Free Europe is reporting that the Government of Belarus has ordered the shut down of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe‘s (OSCE) office in Minsk. This was because it had fulfilled its mandate according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh. This is on top of the multiple arrests of activists and opponents of the Lukashenka administration. The OSCE has stated that Belarus is still “a considerable way” from holding a democratic vote. The...
Image via Wikipedia Best wishes to all my readers, subscribers, facebook fans and stumblers. Here’s to you and yours having a wonderful Christmas. I leave you with a poem by T.S. Eliot. A fitting poem for the year that we have had I think. The Journey of the Magi A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The...
Image by Ben Beiske via Flickr On the 1st of January a new era will dawn on Hungary. It will take over the Presidency of European Council for the first time and a new law on media freedom will come into effect. While the first thing is something for Hungarians to celebrate, the law on the other hand is not. It has been criticised by the OSCE Media freedom representative who wrote in a report that “Regulating print media...
Image via Wikipedia Are you interested in the European Union? Aged between 18-26? Want to go to Strasbourg to see how the European Union really works? Well heres your chance! Between the 19th to 26th March 2011 a Model European Union will take place in Strasbourg. It will debate two topics a Directive on the application of patient’s rights in cross-border healthcare and a Directive on working conditions of temporary workers. You can apply to be a MEP, a...
On Monday 20 December a Carol Service will take place in St Annes Church, Shandon Street Cork at 8pm. This will be a a Celebration of Welcome. A non-denominational service to welcome everyone. Singing the Carols will be Mná, Mná, a choir put together for the event and winner of Chambers Got Xtra Talent Darragh McGann. The service has had some coverage across the pond on LezGetReal who have a post that is well worth reading. Mince pies and...
Image by jaqian via Flickr The polls are coming fast and furious this month. Red C have a poll in tomorrows Irish Business Post. The top line figures are as follows: Fine Gael 34% (+1) Labour 23% (-4) Fianna Fail 17% (nc) Sinn Fein 14% (+3) Greens 2% (-1) Others 10% (+2) As usual Adrian Kavanagh of PoliticalReform.ie has translated this into possible seats and comes up with the following: Fine Gael 66 Labour 46 Fianna Fail 27 Sinn...
Image via Wikipedia Here are the latest figures from the Irish Time Ipsos MRBI poll. All figures are in relation to their last poll in September Fine Gael 30% (+6) Labour 25% (-8) Fianna Fail 17% (-7) Sinn Fein 15% (+7 Greens 2% (nc) Independent/Others 11% (+2) According to Adrian Kavanagh of PoliticalReform.ie it would translate into seats as follows: Fianna Fail 26, Fine Gael 58, Labour 46, Green Party 0, Sinn Fein 18, Others 18 (including 6 United...
Image via Wikipedia Today the European Court of Human Rights (not an EU body!) handed down its judgement on the case of ABC v Ireland on the issue of provision of Abortion in Ireland. As kind of expected the court declared A and B inadmissible as the existing prohibition on abortion in Ireland struck a fair balance between the right of the first and second applicants to respect of their private lives and the rights invoked on behalf of...
Image via Wikipedia Michael Heaver is reporting that 11 members of the European Conservatives and Reformists, those MEPs of the Polish Law and Justice, are set to leave the ECR and join the Europe of Freedom and Democracy grouping in the Parliament. This casts the survival of the the grouping into doubt as for a group to exist it must have 25 MEPs from across seven member states to be a grouping. If the Polish MEPs leave that would...
The European Year of the Volunteer 2011
2011 has been designated the European Year of the Volunteer by the European Union. This is following a campaign led by Marian Harkin MEP (Ireland/ALDE). She worked with the unofficial “EP Volunteering Interest Group” to lobby the Parliament, the Council and the Commission on this initiative. Volunteering is very important in many Member States. Across the EU 92 to 94 million adults are involved in volunteering in the EU. That is 23% of all Europeans over 15 years of...
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