The election is called – or is it?
Posted by Eoin O’Malley, 22 November 2010 The decision of the Greens to call for the election to take place, confirms what most already expected, that an election will take place in early 2011. That Lowry and Healy-Rae are jumping also ensures the government is effectively over. But when will the election actually take place? The Green…
Sunday Business Post/Red C Poll 21 November 2010: Fianna Fail down to 29 seats?
Adrian Kavanagh, 21st November 2010 The latest Sunday Business Post/Red C poll figures estimate party support as follows: Fianna Fail 17%, Fine Gael 33%, Labour Party 27%, Sinn Fein 11%, Green Party 3%, Independents/Others 8%, marking a 1% gain for Fine Gael and a 1% loss for Fianna Fail relative to the October 24th poll…
Radical poltical reform needed
In his weekly column in The Irish Times yesterday Stephen Collins argued cogently that radical political reform will be an urgent task of the new government Collins argues that it is now blindingly obvious that our multi-seat system of proportional representation played a big role in bringing us to where we are. “The system throws…
Fianna Fáil, the IMF, the Future
Posted by Theresa Reidy (17 November, 2010) The focus of attention on the economic terms of the coming bailout has obscured some of the likely political consequences a bailout may have for the dominant party of Irish politics. The recent decline in Fianna Fáil popularity has coincided with the sharp deterioration in economic conditions. This has…
Donegal South West in maps
Adrian Kavanagh, 17 November 2010 Red C opinion poll figures for the Donegal South West by-election and the subsequent general election in that constituency provide ill tidings for Fianna Fail but offer very good news for Sinn Fein and Labour in that constituency. But past electoral trends suggest that geographical factors/local voting trends will also need…
Bailout and loss of sovereignty: time for a New Republic?
by David Farrell (November 17, 2010) Now that the EU/IMF are en route it can only be a matter of time before the pretence that we’re not being bailed out is dropped. In due course we will learn just how painful things are about to become for each one of us. Already the economists are…
The IMF, the bailout and Irish sovereignty
Posted by Michael Breen (16 November 2011) The international media’s spotlight has been firmly on Ireland over the last few days. The talk of the town is of an IMF or European-led bailout. This raises several interesting questions. Why now, with the state apparently funded until June 2011? What sort of terms would be offered…
Irish State Administration Database
posted by Elaine Byrne The excellent Irish State Administration Database is now accessible at http://www.isad.ie This resource provides a dataset capturing the establishment, growth and evolution of Ireland’s state administration from the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 to the present. In so doing, it constitutes a major research infrastructure for the humanities…
The Agreement Generation: An Opportunity for Change?
Posted by David Farrell (November 12, 2010) UCD’s John Hume Institute will be hosting a one day conference on the 17th November looking at the opportunity for change created by the Agreement Generation, those raised with the peace process and the 1998 Agreement. The peace process, the passage of time and generations with different frames…
Irish Politics Forum 