Posted by Eoin O’Malley (15 May) A new Seanad reform bill was introduced in the Seanad today by Senators Katherine Zappone and Fergal Quinn. It is available here. The main point of the bill are that it should move to a reformed house with new powers, but without requiring constitutional change. It proposed elections by…
The book will be launched by Ms. Emily O’Reilly, Ombudsman and Information Commissioner. LOCATION: City Hall, Dame Street, Dublin 2. DATE: Tuesday 21st May 2013 TIME: 6pm followed by a reception RSVP: jean.nelson@dcu.ie or phone: 01-700 8860
The Helix, Dublin City University, 12 June 2013 The debt crises in Ireland and Europe require a combination of political and economic analysis. This conference includes cutting-edge papers from leading international scholars.
Posted by Eoin O’Malley (12 March 2013) The ‘sort-of’ revelation on Twitter that Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan may have used his Oireachtas privilege have penalty points wiped juxtaposes nicely with the eight month sentence imposed on the former UK cabinet minister, Chris Huhne, for perverting the course of justice in a case that started from…
Originally posted on Irish Elections: Geography, Facts and Analyses:
Adrian Kavanagh, March 6th 2013 What do Tomas MacGiolla, Dick Roche, Joe Higgins, Brian Hayes and Paul Gogarty all have in common? All of these candidates lost in by-election contests – MacGiolla (Dublin West 1982), Roche (Wicklow 1995), Higgins (Dublin West 1996), Hayes (Dublin South Central 1994) and Gogarty (Dublin West…
Posted by Eoin O’Malley (21 February, 2013) A poll released today by the Pro-Life Campaign seeks to ‘challenge the notion that there is broad middle ground support for abortion in Ireland.’ This polls claims to show that two-thirds of Irish people want ‘legal protection of the unborn’ and suggests that this means Irish people are…
Posted by Eoin O’Malley (7th January, 2013) One of the most common complaints about democracy is that it shortens our rulers’ time horizons to an extent that damages our interests. If you are a hereditary absolute monarch, presumably you take a very long view, as you care about the inheritance you leave your children and grandchildren. But…
Here are some edited highlights of the Deliberative Democracy conference held in the Royal Irish Academy some weeks ago, including interviews with the participants there – some of the world’s leading experts on deliberative democracy in practice – on the prospects for the Irish Constitutional Convention.
RADICAL OR REDUNDANT? MINOR PARTIES IN IRISH POLITICS edited by Liam Weeks (UCC) and Alistair Clark (Newcastle University) (History Press Ireland, Dublin, 2012) This book examines the fortunes of small political parties in Ireland and asks why no new party has yet emerged. While the type of minor political party in Ireland has varied, their fate,…
Posted by Eoin O’Malley (20 July, 2012) A central theme in constitutional politics is the separation of powers. The Irish constitution doesn’t refer to this directly, but it is implied and the courts have assumed that a separation of powers does exist. While we can reasonably argue that the judiciary is independent of the executive…
Irish Politics Forum 