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 Elaine Byrne Deputy Brendan Griffin (Kerry South) has introduced a proposed amendment to the constitution which seeks to – Hold a referendum on reducing the Dail to 101 members From 100 evenly populated constituencies Retain the PRSTV system. Deputy Griffin says the primary purpose of the amendment is to help “ensure that…
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,…
On Friday, the Ireland Stat pilot website went live at http://www.irelandstat.gov.ie According to the DPER the objective of Ireland Stat is “to provide a whole-of-Government performance measurement system. At its simplest the website brings together data from a whole variety of different sources and sets them in the context of Department’s goals to show what…
Regular contributor Donal has asked us to link to his case for Swiss-style citizens initiative and direct democracy, which the Human Rights in Ireland website* has just published as part of the series Shadow Constitutional Convention, He argues that there may be change in the criteria of decision-making at the top; change in social habits…
Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street November 2 2012 1.15-5.30pm An event organised by We the Citizens, in cooperation with the Royal Irish Academy and the G1000 (Belgium) This event is designed to coincide with the establishment of the Irish government’s constitutional convention. This is the first time an Irish government has involved ordinary citizens in…
John Drennan’s Sindo article points to growing backbench opposition to the government’s proposed referendum on abolishing the Seanad. This development is unsurprising, given the tightness of electoral margins in Ireland’s political system and the personal investment of Oireachtas members in retaining their positions (although, as we all know, the pension’s not too bad if you do get the…
Posted by Elaine Byrne The Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality has invited written submissions from interested groups or individuals in relation to the Heads of the Criminal Justice (Corruption) Bill. If you wish to make a written submission you can send it to the Clerk to the Committee at: justiceanddefence@oir.ie before the end…
Posted by Matt Wall A letter to the Irish Times from six former Senators represents a faltering start to the campaign against the government’s plans to abolish the Seanad. The six argue, as many others have and will, for reform rather than abolition. Sadly, their case is not helped by the farcical nature of many of the ‘debates’…
Really interesting debate on the government’s plans to involve citizens in Irish constitutional reform with contributions from: this site’s Elaine Byrne, Conor O’Mahony, a constitutional law expert from UCC, and Oliver Moran from the Second Republic civil society group. Labour’s Alex White gamely defending the government’s performance and plans to date – though he was…
Irish Politics Forum 