A selection of images by Irish Times photographer Cyril Byrne from the European election count for the East constituency at Punchestown.
Newly-elected MEP Mairead Mc Guinnesss plants a smacker on FG leader Enda Kenny
Liam Aylward (FF) celebrates after being elected on the seventh count
Labour candidate Nessa Childers celebrates her win with Brendan Howlin and Liz McManus
The three newly-elected MEPs for the Ireland East constituency
Following our post about Noel Dempsey and Spock, a mole in Cork writes:
Wearing my amateur phrenologist’s hat, I’m surprised no one has picked up on Micheál Martin and Dimitar Berbatov, who – hairstyles apart – look very similar, particularly around the nose/mouth area.
Interesting too that Micheál’s departure to Foreign Affairs happens to coincide (approximately) with Berbatov’s departure from Spurs to Manchester United. Obviously both moves facilitated much more foreign travel.
Rumour has it that Micheál was a decent enough player in his younger days with Nemo Rangers – the Man Utd of Cork GAA clubs.
Of course, the ultimate proof that they are one and the same person and that the Irish taxpayer is footing the bill for a double jobbing poltico who is making a fortune every week at Old Trafford is the fact that they have never been seen together in the same room.
Why? Because he may be a footballing and political genius but even Micheál Berbatov or Dimitar Martin or whatever he wants to call himself, cannot be two persons at the one time.
Note too how Micheál sheds that silly girlie hairband thingy whenever he’s here in Cork and pretends instead to have a receding hairline - it would never wash with Leesider voters – not even those living on the southside.
(L-R: Man Utd striker Dimitar Berbatov, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin)
After 1,050 plays, John Bracken’s aural magnificence has finally been usurped from the exalted heights of our tune of the day, to be replaced by this wonderful romp by Martin Kennedy, an Independent who is running for election to North Tipperary County Council.
He’s drafted in some real superstars to help him, including the Corrigan Brothers of There’s No-one As Irish As Barack Obama fame. Kennedy’s lyrics would leave Bob Dylan gasping in awe. Take this couplet of genius for example:
“A playground for the kids, he wants a library-ee,
He’s against the closure of Nenagh A&E-ee.”
Altogether now: And a tooraloorala, tooralooraleddy, the only man for us, is our own Martin Kennedy…
From wind-up Mp3 players, cycling to work in the rain, making hang sangwiches the night before and the resurgence of Maxwell House instead of decaf skinny moca-lattes, the nation is outdoing itself to “go green”, as the say, and save a few quid in the process.
Not to be outdone, Fianna Fáil’s Dublin South candidate Shay Brennan is calling for more allotment spaces for hard-pressed south Dubs who want to get on the thrift train.
It use to be the case that the word allotment went hand-in-hand with Arthur Fowler on Eastenders. He even dropped dead amongst the Albert Square legumes back in the day.
“I’ve met lots of urban gardeners in Dundrum, Stillorgan and Sandyford over the past fortnight – and a few apartment dwellers who’d like to have a garden and grow their own fruit and vegetables,” Brennan said in a statement today. Who’d have thought it, eh? We may yet see some genuine Chelsea tractors around the place.
Brennan is calling on local authorities to review their land banks in order to free up space for allotments and “answer the new green grow your own demand”.
“The green fingered among us should be encouraged, whether it’s a window box or an allotment,” he adds. In Goatstown there are 100 allotments available from Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown – with 100 names on the waiting list which has now been closed, according to Brennan.
We know this isn’t strictly election-related, but we’re including it anyway. Just because it gave us a giggle in these grim times. It’s the hair that does it.
To paraphrase Flann O’Brien:
“When money’s tight and hard to get, and your horse is also ran,
A snap of Dempsey alongside Spock is quite yer only man”
L-R: Spock from Star Trek, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey
(Hats off to RealBLenihan)
We posted this a few days back, thinking it was a clever(ish) Libertas video. 
It has since been brought to our attention that the only thing clever about it was that it cost them nothing. They ripped it off. Which is just plain naughty.
Here’s the original, which was produced by the European Parliament to encourage people to get out and vote for the party of their choice. Even Libertas.
More weird posters have found their way into us this morning.
First off, someone - namely Dublin 98′s Dave Moore - has been having fun with the posters for Brian Greene, the Socialist Party candidate in the newly formed Malahide/Howth electoral area, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Father Dougal McGuire off the telly.
Note the way Greene has allowed his posters to be shared with Joe Higgins. That’s true Socialism in action. They walk it like they talk it, those folk.
And the prize for weirdest poster of the campaign goes to Seamas O’Neill, an Independent running for the local elections in Dundrum, South Dublin. We’d definitely give this chap our vote, if only because of the effort he’s put into his posters and the lack of ego he’s displayed by allowing himself to be portrayed as a cartoon. We all know most politicians are muppets. At least he’s being up front about it.
(Thanks to Keith for taking the photo.)
One chap who is forgoing the whole poster route is Athlone town council candidate, Cllr John Butler, who has announced he won’t be putting up any this year as they cause litter and are an “eyesore”.
Sheesh, the poor man must have an awful self-image. Either that or he’s ugly as Susan Boyle chewing a wasp.
Whether or not this ploy is a neat way of avoiding the dilemma shared by so many fellow Fianna Fáilers of what prominence to give the party on their posters is unknown.
Whatever the motivation, it’s a brave decision. John, a 24-year veteran of the council, says he doesn’t expect his performance to suffer as a result. ”I think the voters know that the local election is not a beauty contest”.
Oh yeah? So how do you explain the selection as candidates by the main parties of so many fine young things of both sexes?
See if you can spot John among this bevy of beauties.
Clockwise, from top left: Maria Parodi (Labour), John Lyons (Labour) Niamh Moran (Fianna Fail), Catherine Yore (Fine Gael), John Butler (Fianna Fail), Rebecca Moynihan (Labour)
Here’s a video by Maman Poulet of Fine Gael’s European election poster launch yesterday in central Dublin. Have you ever seen such a load of faffing about? Still, Enda must be pleased. Finally, he’s going up in the world. And none of them fell off. Or got their cherries picked. Which is nice.
Everyone else in Dublin South may as well give up. Georgie Boy’s going to run rings around them with his fancy toy.
Imagine him whizzing up your garden path on this yoke? How could you not vote for him?
Is this what’s commonly known as a roving (ex-)reporter?
Fine Gael may be riding high in this morning’s Irish Times opinion poll, but one disgruntled voter in north Dublin certainly isn’t one of the 38 per cent.
So much so, in fact, that he or she has taken to the M1 motorway flyovers armed with a packet of black bed linen and silver spray paint. The result is a number of messages aimed at Dublin city centre bound motorists ahead of the June 5th poll.
“Fianna Failure – Vote for Change”. OK, nothing original there, but they get a little nastier (from Fine Gael’s point of view in any case). The next one is “Vote for Change – not Fine Gael” and our favourite here in Campaign Watch is “Fianna Fáil – Fine Gael – No F*****g Difference”. Well that’s the kind of succinct political analysis you don’t’ get on the pages of most newspapers every day.
Any pictures of these signs or any similar ones gratefully received at campaignwatch@irishtimes.com
