The Constitutional Studies Group in UCD School of Law is hosting a conference on The Irish Constitution: Past, Present and Future from Thursday to Saturday this week at Kings Inns in Dublin city. This includes sessions on political reform. Details of the panels, papers and how to register are available here.
Posted by Eoin O’Malley (26 April, 2012) François Hollande had made it clear in campaigning for the French presidency that he was no fan of the Fiscal Compact and indicated that he would be against French ratification of the Treaty. Now that his election looks more than likely he has again stated his opposition to the…
By Eoin O’Malley (15 February, 2012) SIPO last night released details for candidate election expenses – set out here. They provide useful information as to what candidates spent their money on in the campaign and how much each spent. They are less useful, however, for disclosing where each candidate’s money came from. We can see, for instance,…
By Eoin Daly, School of Law and Government, DCU Will Ireland need to hold a referendum to ratify the fiscal ‘compact’ recently agreed by 26 EU member states? To answer this, I will explain the concept and status of sovereignty in the Constitution. This, in turn, dictates whether, and under what circumstances, Ireland’s participation in…
Eoin O’Malley (26 October 2011) We might be interested in betting markets as a rival to polling for measuring shifts in support, particularly in Ireland where polling is comparatively infrequent and irregular. The idea is that people putting real money on a result may know something, and that those who do have information will see…
Eoin O’Malley 24 October The referendum on the 30th amendment – the inquiries referendum – is on the face of it something most people would want to support. It seeks to empower the Oireachtas to hold inquiries which should strengthen the government oversight function. Specifically it seeks to overturn (or render void) the decision in Maguire v.…
After the Nice Treaty referendum it was decided to change the terms of reference of the Referendum Commission so that it no longer gives arguments for or against the proposed amendment. Instead it sets out the rationale for the amendment and what it sets out to do. It does not engage in whether the proposal is…
By Eoin O’Malley The latest opinion poll (analysed here) indicates that the Labour party is bearing the brunt of governing whereas Fine Gael and Enda Kenny seem to be enjoying an extended honeymoon with the electorate. This is backed up by the analysis of polcors in Ireland, one of whom reported here that Gilmore was seen as…
The Dáil debated possible new Dáil reforms yesterday. The reforms introduced by the Chief Whip Paul Kehoe are to include: The introduction of Topical Issue Debates to replace the current Adjournment Debates Extra Dáil sitting days – on the first Friday of every month – to provide time for TDs to introduce their own Bills…
As ministers prepare to take what will surely seem a well-earned break, they’ll probably be feeling a bit sorry for themselves. The celebrity induced honeymoon hasn’t given way to an economic miracle and the likelihood is that when they come back they will be straight into a fight with Brendan Howlin for money. The argument has been made that…
Irish Politics Forum 