The fallout from the Seanad referendum continues. Various groups (most prominent among them Democracy Matters), political parties (notably Fianna Fáil) and prominent individuals such as Michael McDowell are clamouring for the government to introduce legislation to allow for the direct election of the next Seanad. An editorial in today’s Irish Times makes supportive noises in…
Adrian Kavanagh, 9th/25th January/22nd February 2014 The trends of varying results across two polls published on the same date, as evidenced with the 26th January polls, is evident again with those to be published on 23rd February. The Sunday Business Post-Red C poll (23rd February) estimated party support levels as follows (and relative to the previous such poll): Fine…
This is the text of an article published in the Sunday Business Post 22nd December 2013 On the night of 6th December 2008 there were widespread protests against the government in Athens. In one middle class district in the centre of Athens, Exarcheia, there were confrontations with the police. Police were ordered to leave the…
Adrian Kavanagh, 31st December 2013 During the past year (2013), I carried out constituency-level analyses of thirty four different national opinion polls in order to produce Dail-seat estimates based on those support levels. These analyses involved thirteen Red C (Sunday Business Post-Red C and Paddy Power-Red C) polls, twelve Sunday Independent-Millward Browne polls, four Irish Times-Ipsos MRBI polls and five Sunday…
The Referendum Commission’s report on the Seanad and Court of Appeal referendums was published just before Christmas (and can be read here). There is also an accompanying powerpoint file (here) that purports to be a research report carried out for the Commission by Behaviour & Attitudes. (Sorry: but in my book, a ‘research report’ needs…
The ongoing standoff between the Minister for the Environment and the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) is yet another signal of just how much this government has backtracked on its supposed commitment to open government. At the heart of this issue is what level of party accounts should be made available for auditing and…
In the week that’s in it…. Earlier today it was announced on the Irish Constitutional Convention’s website that the convention members have decided that the last two meetings of the convention shall be focused on Dáil reform and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. And reports suggest that this week we will have the formal government…
Dr. Patrick Collins, Department of Geography, NUIG and Aisling Murtagh, The Whitaker Institiute, NUIG It has been termed the most fundamental overhaul of local government in the last 100 years, but will the proposed regional restructuring as laid out by Minister Phil Hogan bring about a change in the entrenched thinking of Irish planning, regardless…
Today’s Irish Independent notes that Ireland ranks fifth for corporate whistleblowing. Elaine Byrne’s recent Sunday Business Post article which advocated that whistleblowers should be financially incentivised to give insider information, based on the US experience.
Dr. Clodagh Harris, Department of Government, UCC The Action programme for Effective Local Government ‘Putting People First’ (2012) proposes the creation of new municipal districts with local policy/regulatory roles. It also refers to increasing citizen engagement with reference to new forms of public engagement (p.159) such as Participatory Budgeting (PB).
