The Green vote was something of a triumph for the party leadership. Whatever their critics think of them, you can’t quarrel with a tally of 84% for the revised Programme for Government and a 68% rejection of the anti-Nama motion.
Hmm, wish I could get that vote in Dublin South-East (Photograph by Brenda Fitzsimons)
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)
On the face of it, the Government would appear to be in considerable difficulty after last weekend’s Green party deliberations on the National Asset Management Agency. But although the voting figures in the “Preferendum” (see below) are very negative, some Green sources keep insisting things aren’t as bad as they look.
What in the Nama Gawd are we gonna do now? (Photograph by James Flynn/APX)
John O’Donoghue
John O’Donoghue’s statement is just out and I’ve read it and it’s long enough on volume but short enough on substance. Essentially, he refuses to engage on the subject of his travel expenses other than a half-apology at the end for some of those that ‘seemed’ high. There has been a strange silence from opposition parties about this, save for Aengus O Snodaigh and Paschal Donohoe.
There is none. Silver lining that is. See the bit on NAMA at the end.
We have the result of the next election already and it is this: change of government. The only question is: when. Some of my colleagues believe as early as the New Year. I say the end of 2010, at the earliest.
Over the past couple of years, I have done the Overlook Hotel metaphor to death when describing Leinster House during the summer months. (For those who are not film buffs, it’s the hotel to which Jack Nicholson takes his family in Stanley Kubrick’s film on Stephen King’s novel The Shining).
It’s hard to believe that 30 years have elapsed since the people decided by referendum to extend the Seanad election franchise beyond Trinity and the National University of Ireland, to include graduates of other institutions of higher education.
‘Non-TCD and non-NUI graduates need not apply for a vote’ (Photograph of Seanad chamber by Alan Betson) (more…)
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…)
Your Humble Scribe was asked to chair a debate on Afghanistan last night at a Dublin hotel. Unfortunately, due to pressure of work (reporting on the Greens’ row with Dermot Ahern), most of the speeches were over by the time he got to the meeting.
There’s more of this in store if the Taliban win (Photograph by Brenda Fitzsimons)
I am looking at Brian Cowen on the TV screen in the office, drudging through Taoiseach’s Questions. The Dáil this week has been like a burst balloon or a wind without sails or an end-of-season clash between two mid-table teams.
There has been a sense of tiredness – maybe it’s anti-climax – after the elections season and the emotion of the debate on the Ryan report. Nobody has whipped themselves into a froth of fury this week. There have been some more wringing of hands by parties (mainly the Greens) about the future and all the dreadful things that may be in store.
