So the race will be on at last when Brian Cowen fires the starter’s pistol on Tuesday afternoon in Dail Eireann. There has rarely been such a long lead-in to any poll. There seems to have been an endless overture before the grand opera finally began. (more…)
Listening to the details of the execution by lethal injection of John Allen Muhammad, the Washington Sniper, was pretty horrific. Thank goodness we have gotten rid of the death penalty here and that it is part of the conditions of membership of the European Union: definitely a plus, whatever way you voted on Lisbon.
Van removes the body after execution
There was a stark contrast between Dublin Castle last Saturday and the same place in June 2008, when the No side won the first Lisbon referendum. This time the place was like a morgue. Last time, photographers literally almost came to blows trying to take pictures of Gerry Adams and his colleagues in Sinn Féin.
Give us an aul’ smile, Brian (Photo by Alan Betson)
The Dáil may be gone for the Summer but politics refuses to lie down. First we had the Greens with their late-night abstention on the final vote for the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill and then we had Colm McCarthy’s Bord Snip Report.
That Report (Photograph by Alan Betson) (more…)
It nearly slipped past. Today is the first anniversary of this blog. As it happens, a young graduate student has interviewed both of us separately on the experience.
Aargh, no, not another referendum campaign (Photograph by Matt Kavanagh) (more…)
Given the number of bad weeks he has had since becoming Taoiseach, it was about time for Brian Cowen to have a good one. He got his guarantees and his protocols on the Lisbon Treaty and even managed to convey the impression of a little “Brit-bashing” along the way.
Did Brian really put Brown in his box in Brussels? (Photograph by Frank Miller from May 2008 at Stormont)
With all the economic problems that exist, the last thing Brussels wanted was another question-mark over the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The imminent collapse of the Czech Government has created further uncertainty. (more…)
I dreamt about a visit to the fortune-teller last night. It wasn’t my love-life she was interested in, or indeed any other aspect of my personal situation. No, this was a political seer, looking to the future of the country. (more…)
So we’re officially on the road to a second Lisbon referendum. It’s been the worst-kept secret in Irish politics since, well, the counting of the votes last June. The best chance this time around is that the recession will, let’s not shilly-shally here, frighten people into voting Yes. (more…)
The Pork and Beef saga at home has distracted attention from the social and political turmoil taking place on the territory of one of our EU partners. Since they’re so far away and get such an enviable amount of sunshine, we Irish think we have little in common with the Greeks. (more…)
