RTÉ reported last night that a party whip was being applied to Fianna Fail TD’s and Senators to stop them individually nominating Independent candidates. Speaking in an interview aired on RTÉ’s This Week In Politics, Seán Ó Fearghail, The Fianna Fail whip, said the party would act collectively if it chooses to support an independent candidate. This is seen as a blow to the possible return of Senator Norris to the race for the Presidency. The Irish Times today...
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....
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...
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...
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...
So today we saw the first poll since the general election published in the Sunday Business Post. It was conducted by Red C. All figures are on difference since the election. The topline figures are: Fine Gael 39% (+3) Labour 18% (-1) Fianna Fail 16% (-1) Sinn Fein 11% (+1) Others 16% An interesting poll. Maybe people are regretting not voting for a majority Fine Gael government? That or is the sign that Red C over estimate Fine Gael support by...
Votewatch.eu have launched a new tool along the votematch lines. Using EP Votematch, having showed how you would vote on issues that have passed the European Parliament, it will rank the MEPs that you agree with most. It is an interesting idea and I must say I was surprised with the results. Across the whole Parliament I agreed most with Kristiina OJULAND an Estonian ALDE MEP. Among the Irish MEPs Marian HARKIN (Ind, ALDE) was the MEP I agreed with...
I was doing my usual perusal of Guido Fawke’s blog this morning. This is a blog I normally find interesting and informative but as the Alternative Vote (AV) referendum campaign continues it seems to be peddling more lies about AV and STV (the PR varient used in Ireland). To try and show AV as a confusing system he posted this picture to try and show how confusing it is. Now that picture above would be ok if it showed...
The last few Thursdays I have been interviewed for a Radio show. This is this mornings interview where they made me make a prediction on the election. I made the following prediction: Fine Gael 79 Labour 35 Fianna Fail 22 Sinn Fein 16 Greens 0 Independents 15 Whats your prediction? I will be responding to the election on the show on Monday. Tune in around 9:30am thurs 24 feb show stephen spillane Related articles Election 2011: End of Showtime...
There have been a few questions asked about the Election Broadcasting Moratorium which is changing this year in comparison to previous elections. This year, broadcasters will be allowed to cover the election up until 2pm on Thursday. From the BAI Guidance Radio and television broadcasters shall observe a moratorium on coverage of an election. The moratorium will operate from 2pm on the day before the poll takes place and throughout the day of the poll itself until polling stations...
Recent Comments