In the first Irish Polling Indicator for the 32nd Dáil, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are leading the polls with estimates around 26% each. The Irish Polling Indicator pools all Irish opinion polls to arrive at an overall estimate of where the parties stand. Fine Gael support has not changed since the February elections. The…
The first results of the Political Party Database project were published recently in Party Politics. Irish political parties were included in this international audit of the state of party politics in 19 democracies. In summary, the data show Irish parties in pretty good health: they’re well funded (in large part by the state) and well…
Epthinktank Written by Cécile Remeur, In late August 2016, the adoption by the European Commission of a state aid decision on Ireland’s tax rulings in favour of tax-resident companies related to Apple raised substantial debate, with regard to the multinational enterprise (MNE) concerned and the amount to be recovered. Taxation and state aid relating to…
Northern Ireland at the Edge: What’s next after Brexit? Thursday, 15 September 2016 2.00-5.00 pm Queen’s University Belfast More information and booking here • Places are free • Booking is essential This conversation focuses on the consequences of the UK’s future relationship with Ireland, north and south. Should the UK withdraw from the EU (as…
Guest post by Ken Carty (University of British Columbia) The pundits and editorial writers have worked themselves up over a bill to provide for abortions in the case of private members fetal abnormalities – a bill that may never pass out of the Oireachtas. The behavior of some ministers, we are told, ignores the constitution…
Guest Post from Dr. Caroline McEvoy, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin [This post draws on research published in Politics & Gender available here.] 22% of TDs in the 32nd Dáil are women – a result largely attributed to the introduction of gender quotas in the 2016 general election. This is a…
So the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, the EU will see to remove any vestiges of the United Kingdom with as much haste as a fractious domestic separation.Well no, it’s not going to be that simple. First, the United Kingdom does not have a…
The Constitution Unit Blog During the EU referendum debate it has often been asserted that people tend to be risk averse and so vote against change in referendums. But does the evidence justify this claim? Stephen Fisher and Alan Renwick have collected data on over 250 national referendums held since 1990 and found that the change option has won a…
Guest post from Prof Donncha Kavanagh (UCD) donncha.kavanagh@ucd.ie Much media commentary on the general election has been framed around the notion that the Irish parliamentary system should finally rid itself of its Civil War legacy and embrace the Left-Right system of political discourse that befits a modern democracy. However, there are profound weaknesses in this…
Guest post by Jonathan Arlow. In 2013 the Department of Social Protection commissioned a report by Indecon International Economic Consultants to evaluate the effectiveness of the JobBridge internship programme. Given that the minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, has publicly criticised JobBridge and announced that he is expecting a second review by Indecon into the…
Irish Politics Forum 