http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics Just another irishtimes.com weblog Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:17:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was in Buswell's Hotel a short while ago covering a press conference. As I left by the lobby I spotted Dermot Ahern, the Minister for Justice, being interviewed by a camera crew. What was it about? Bankers' pay? Tiger kidnappings? The Criminal Justice Bill that's going through the House at ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/19/who-said-sports-and-politics-dont-mix/ The phrase is Tony Blair's and I love it. I came across it last night when reading a piece that the Labour MP for Sunderland (and former journalist of Birmingham 6 fame) Chris Mullin wrote for the Guardian. You can read the article in its entirety here. I know, I know. ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/19/the-feral-media/ As long as I have been writing about politics, there was one comedy show we all looked forward to every year. It was the Sinn Fein pre-Budget Outlook. The party would present its figures and we would hold our bellies as its TDs conveyed such fiction and fantasy with such straight, serious ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/17/still-no-pain-but-at-least-some-gain-for-sinn-fein/ Somebody (thank you Thomas)  emailed me this morning to say that a second ghost bike has been erected at Aston Quay, near the spot where Karl McGee was killed last September. The South Quays are beyond awful for cyclists. No proper cycling lane. Squeezed in between buses and cars. With cars ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/16/second-ghost-bike/ We have seen the full gamut of clever debating techniques employed by politicians and unions in the past couple of weeks. There is deflection: Such as: "People are missing the real scandal here. The Government is bailing out the banks while squeezing public services." (more...)Share This http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/14/hard-lessons-from-the-decade-of-greed/ Before it fades into the farther recesses of public memory, here's a thought-provoking piece from our Op-Ed pages by a former Northern Editor of The Irish Times, who went on to become a prominent broadcaster in Britain, Henry Kelly.   Mourning the dead in Omagh, 22 August 1998 (Photograph by Alan Betson)  ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/13/henry-kelly-looks-back-on-the-troubles/ [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK3DA4yyt_U&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] Fianna Fail have recently started doing these video diaries, showcasing the musings of Brian Cowen on the economy, Europe.... and Ireland's chances against France in Croke Park on Saturday night. (more...)Share This http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/12/if-it-worked-for-bertie/ 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 ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/11/death-penalty-for-mass-killer/ I wrote the story on Alan O'Brien's dramatic outburst against Pat Kenny on RTE's Frontline last night. When I checked late last night, the Tweeters and bloggers were also quick of the mark and out in force. The first sight readers of the paper saw of the story was this morning ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/10/the-frontline-heckler/ Was it just me or have comments from the various unions and ICTU over the past 24 hours suggest that they are now prepared to seek a deal rather than return to the streets, because they are worried that their mass protests will be shorn of the mass bit? ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2009/11/09/unions-losing-traction/