Posted by Eoin O’Malley, 8 December, 2010 Fionnán Sheehan reports in today’s Irish Independent that the government is considering putting a question by referendum on election day to abolish the Seanad. This might be seen as a genuine attempt at reform, a desperate attempt to divert attention from the obvious – the economy -, or a way…
Posted by David Farrell (December 8, 2010) Based on the proceedings of the 2010 MacGill Summer School, the MacGill Report 2010 – Reforming the Republic, edited by Joe Mulholland will be launched at the MacGill Forum to be held on Thursday, December 16th at the Royal College of Surgeons, St Stephen’s Green from 9.00 a.m.…
Theresa Reidy and John Considine 7th December, 2010 The most discussed budget in decades in due today. The budget is the main feature in the Finance calendar in any country but this year, the Irish budget is likely to be the centre of international attention. Budget 2011 will be exceptional for a variety of reasons.…
Posted by Kenneth McDonagh, Monday 6th December On Saturday afternoon last, I attended the first meeting of a new grassroots movement called ‘Second Republic’. As someone who has stared forlornly from the lectern at a mere scattering of undergraduates, the very fact that up to 80 people freely gave up their time to discuss political…
John O’Brennan (Maynooth) on Ireland’s existential crisis: a contrary view on the Open Democracy website Niamh Hardiman (UCD) on Firestone and contagion in the Eurozone: how Ireland got burned on the Out of the Crooked Timber website
Guest post by Vincent Byrne There is an opportunity in this debate about our crisis of governance to re-construct the Seanad, to provide a ‘democratic dualism’, a return to the Athenian approach of both Assembly of the people and Tribune of the people. This Dual structure would fundamentally change the democratic architecture of our state.…
Posted by Kenneth McDonagh, Dec 3rd 2010 One of the recurrent themes of the recent debates on political reform has been the lack of engagement and/or connection between ordinary citizens and the political system. The public ranges between rage and apathy when it comes to the question of how to influence politics. Calls for electoral…
It has been reported that a Red C poll to be published in tomorrow’s Irish Sun estimates party support levels as follows: Fianna Fail 13%. Fine Gael 32%, Labour 24%, Green Party 3%, Sinn Fein 16%, Independents/Others 11%. Bad and all as these figures are for Fianna Fail, my constituency level analysis of the poll…
Icelandic political scientist Silja Bara Omarsdottir writes about waking up as a newly elected representative to the country’s new constitutional assembly here. The assembly is a direct result of the Pots and Pans Revolution which took place in Iceland after the banking crisis tanked the country’s economy just over two years ago. Should we think…
Jennifer Kavanagh 1st December 2010 As it currently stands, if someone wants to see the current cabinet papers on the IMF bailout they must wait until 2040. It’s almost like the last line in the Oliver Stone film “JFK” where the father tells the son to wait for 30 years to see if he was…
Irish Politics Forum 