Fine Gael-Fianna Fail grand coalition the only option?: Sunday Times-Behaviour & Attitudes poll (18th December 2011)

The Sunday Times-Behaviour & Attitudes poll (18th December 2011) points to a more than signficant dip in support for the government parties following the budger, with a notable recovery for Fianna Fail building on a strong showing in the Dublin West by-election and Sinn Fein occupying second place in the party rankings. With support levels and projected seat numbers…

Sovereignty, the Constitution and the ‘fiscal compact’

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…

G1000: Belgium’s Citizens’ Summit

Posted by David Farrell (November 12, 2011) On November 11, 800 citizens from across Belgium were brought together to discuss the future of their country. G1000 was conceived a few months ago by a small group of Belgian citizens (the key player is a prominent author and columnist, David van Reybrouck; the others are a…

A new book on ‘the second Republic’

Posted by David Farrell (November 1, 2011) Here’s the link for the new book by Peadar Kirby and Mary P. Murphy, entitled Towards a Second Republic: Irish Politics after the Celtic Tiger (Pluto, 2011). The blurb reads as follows: Towards a Second Republic analyses Ireland’s economics, politics and society, drawing important lessons from its cycles of boom and…

Gallagher poll lead widens in weekend polls while Sinn Fein and Independents gain in terms of party support

Adrian Kavanagh, 25th October 2011 The final series of opinion polls at the weekend saw Sean Gallagher maintain, and even widen somewhat, the lead he established over Michael D. Higgins and the other candidates in the previous weekend’s Sunday Business Post-Red C poll, although the sheer momentum he had built up over the previous few…

Inquiries referendum is lazy measure that won’t empower the Oireachtas

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.…