Further to our coverage in today’s paper, here is the full text of the resignation speech by Bertie Ahern last night, as issued to the news media, along with a tribute by Taoiseach Brian Cowen. I understand the Ahern speech was the work of several hands, at least one of them with a legal background. It is arguably the best-crafted FF speech for a very long time and a long way from Bertie’s frequently-confusing (deliberately so, perhaps) public utterances.
Green Party Chairman Dan Boyle gave me an interview this week on the break-up of the coalition. A shortened version appears in today’s print edition:-
‘I am the leader. I will be leading the party into the next general election’
Interview with Taoiseach Brian Cowen by Deaglán de Bréadún, Political Correspondent, The Irish Times
Here’s wishing all the readers and contributors of comments to this Blog all the very best for the holiday season. It has been a dramatic year on the poltical scene with more to come in the shape of a general election, a vacancy for President and goodness knows what else. Nollaig shona agust athbhliain faoi mhaise. (more…)
Sorry to hear about the death of Anthony Howard, a leading British political journalist for the last half-century. He was an authoritative voice both in print and on the air. He edited the New Statesman when that magazine was must reading for anyone interested in political matters (it’s still pretty good, actually.) (more…)
Interested in getting reaction to this book-review by yours truly which appeared in last Saturday’s print edition of The Irish Times. It’s an intriguing subject that’s full of intrigue.
The headline on the opinion poll we ran this morning – about Fianna Fail slumping to a record low – was one that featured regularly in the run-up to the British general election this year. (more…)
The question on everyone’s mind in the Dail these days is: When will the general election take place? (more…)
A few years ago, I was doing a little archive research on tribunals past, which included a trawl through the clippings on the tribunal into the Stardust tragedy in the 1980s. I recall noticing that the fees charged by lawyers at the time was obscene, and it seemed high even by the standards of two decades later. I can’t remember the exact details of the daily fee but they were massive. (more…)
There is an item on the news that illustrates the best and worst of our society. Following an arson attack on the home of an 87-year-old woman in Cork, the victim is in hospital, as are two gardaí who rescued her from the blaze. (more…)
There is wall-to-wall coverage of the Gerry Ryan inquest and its implications in the Sunday papers. As an astute reviewer of the papers on his own radio show, he would well understand the irresistible lure of the story for broadsheets, tabloids or – new word – “compacts”. (more…)
Whenever there are rumblings or mutterings or discontent within a party – and nowadays that’s Fianna Fail or Fine Gael folks - you get landed with the pleasurable (!) task of ringing around the backbenchers to try and sample the mood and divine the atmosphere. Today the task was to open the bonnet, have a look at the dipping indicator to see if Brian Cowen was so low on oil he was going to stall [permanently] at any moment. (more…)
