Eoin O’Malley (6th July, 2010) Little attention is given in today’s papers to Brian Lenihan’s appearance before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service yesterday. There he answered questions on the proposed Commission of Investigation into the banking crisis and in doing so made some statements on how he sees his ministerial responsibility.
David Farrell, July 5, 2010 In a letter in today’s Irish Independent, a correspondent writes of how the “obsessive behaviour” of Mr Gormley: “has become more than just an embarrassment to the Government, it has become a dangerous impediment to this country’s economic recovery and the creation of much-needed jobs. Along with business leaders, United…
David Farrell (July 5, 2010) The following letter appeared in today’s Irish Times: Madam, – In recent times, I have wondered whether the collective membership of the Dáil has the ability to cope with matters of national importance, which impact on the daily lives of our citizenry. The low and blinkered level of debate relating…
by David Farrell (July 1, 2010) The Fine Gael leader announced his new front bench earlier today. The details are as follows:
The Summer School will analyse the political, economic and administrative systems that have allowed our economy to be brought to its knees and will propose solutions. The nature and structures of our parliamentary democracy and our political culture will come under particular scrutiny.
Liam Weeks Given the recent analysis on this site and in the media (see RTE’s Late Debate from 23 June) on Labour’s potential performance at the next election, I have analysed the results from 2007 to see what Labour needs to do to win 50 seats, a figure that has been suggested in some quarters.
Eoin O’Malley (28 June 2010) The decision to review the advice and structures of the Department of Finance is to be welcomed (see Eddie Molloy and Dan O’Brien on this here and here). It is pretty obvious that the department lacks the capacity to give good advice to ministers, and that it was careful never to give…
Adrian Kavanagh (28 June 2010) The latest Red C poll points to a remarkably consistent trend in terms of support for the three largest parties – again underlining the significant “Gilmore Gale” increase in support for Labour but also highlighting the strenght of Fine Gael support. But how would these figures translate into seats should these…
David Farrell (June 25, 2010) The controversy over the government’s willful blocking of any attempts to call the long over-due by-elections continues. The following letter appeared in today’s Irish Times: Madam, – The Government chief whip, John Curran said it is inappropriate for the Dublin South byelection to go ahead now because the Dáil “is…
by MUIRIS MacCARTHAIGH (June 25, 2010) The role, governance and political accountability of state agencies has generated a lot of political and media attention recently. Much of this commentary, however, is conducted in the absence of any agreement of how many of these organisations there actually are, and what the overall trends in the agency…
