Banner
The Irish Times

  • Fine Gaelers all a-beaming as Greens go tweedless

    A week to go, and John Gormley has ditched the tweed.

  • Man 'who gets things done' is warmly received on doorsteps

    On the canvass/ Roisin Ingle with Willie O'Dea: Willie O'Dea and his moustache are canvassing Woodview just outside Limerick city on a sunny Saturday evening.

  • Knockers fail to dent Cullen as fiascos bypassed en route to Dáil

    On the canvass/Seán Moran with Martin Cullen: One of the two most pilloried Cabinet Ministers is ready to take his message to the voters on the doorsteps.

  • High drama at party HQ , sour mood on the doorsteps

    On the campaign trail around the country, there is an absence of buzz and a palpable feeling of cynicism towards candidates, with arrogance and waste the recurring themes, writes Kathy Sheridan

  • First time for the first preferences

    A better health service, more gardaí, cheap concert tickets. First-time voters tell Rosita Boland what will make them vote - or not

  • Overactive blather worries party handlers

    Full marks to our thoughtful friends in the medical world, who have recognised the plight of politicians during these fraught weeks of Election 2007.

  • Gentleman Jim of Fine Gael still keen to go the distance

    It's the morning after the night before and Enda Kenny has landed in Buncrana after a bumpy plane ride up from Dublin to intercede for his candidate, the personable Senator Joe McHugh, in this mother of a Donegal dogfight. Gerry Moriarty in Buncrana

  • Change brewing and Clune may be electorate's cup of tea

    On the canvass: If Barry's Tea heiress Deirdre Clune doesn't manage to bag the Cork South Central seat she lost in 2002, it won't be for lack of family support. It's 6.30pm on Wednesday in Rochestown and the Fine Gael candidate's stylish sister-in-law Karen is getting ready to pound the pavements. Róisín Ingle with Deirdre Clune.

  • McDowell's intended return to pole position ends in shambles

    Like a myopic mongrel recognising the scent of his favourite lavatory, Michael McDowell panted blissfully down Ranelagh Avenue towards the fourth telegraph pole on the left, writes Miriam Lord.

  • Greens' steely White may upset Fianna Fáil applecart in Kilkenny

    On the canvass: From a distance, Cllr Mary White looks nice - a nice, middle-aged, middle-class woman in a nice white shirt and jacket, who runs a nice, successful bookselling business with her husband.  Kathy Sheridan with Mary White

  • Henry's hug campaign a bolt of high energy in low wattage town

    On the canvass - Keith Duggan with Imelda Henry: Nothing advertises the beauty of the Sligo landscape as dramatically as the descent into the airport at Strandhill and yesterday the movers and shakers turned up to celebrate the launch of the new Sligo-Manchester route.

  • Elusive Bertie swotting for his Westminster finals

    With the Taoiseach keeping such a low profile yesterday, Bertie-watchers were forced to get their fix elsewhere.

  • Even heifers left waiting as Bertie's tour gathers momentum

    Ahern campaign: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's campaigning up to now may have lacked some of the star appeal of past election battles, but Drogheda yesterday proved that he can still draw the crowds. Mark Hennessy and Seán MacConnell report.

  • Mary Lou tells it straight on the black and white issues

    On the canvass: Tuesday evening and Eddie O'Reilly stands by the van in St Finbarr's GAA club in Cabra, waiting. Mary Lou McDonald is on the train back from Stormont after a day of history and the canvass awaits. Tom Humphries with Mary Lou McDonald

  • A touch of masochism gives way to foot massage

    On the canvass: Candidates get used to packs of snarling dogs. They learn stoicism in the face of non-functioning doorbells. They keep smiling when the umpteenth gas card, stunned by her own originality, folds her arms and smirks : "So what are you going to do for me?" Kathy Sheridan with Nicky Kelly

  • More than just an average Joe

    On the canvass: It's 7.15am at Castleknock train station. A grey-haired man in a mac is handing out leaflets asking people to "re-elect a tireless campaigner for working people". Most commuters are either wearing earphones or are rushing to catch the always packed trains. The rest smile and say "hiya, Joe" and "good luck, Joe" and "you always have the number ones in our house, Joe".

  • McNamara hoping to strike the right note with voters

    Is Frank McNamara stone mad? When the man hitherto known for playing the piano on the Late Late Show announced he would be running in Dublin South Central for the Progressive Democrats, there was every reason to suspect he had lost his marbles, writes Miriam Lord.

  • Drizzle fails to dampen cheerful O'Rourke

    On the Canvass: "You're not the master of the house?" says Mary O'Rourke incredulously. "Well, you look like a garsún."

  • Enda's pedometer signals distance FG has travelled

    Diffidence and demoralisation signalled the undoing of Fine Gael in 2002. Memories of that horrendous campaign still haunt the party. From the outset, all but the most blinkered of Blueshirts shared a sense of impending doom.

  • Promises, promises as politics takes a back seat

     Fine Gael manifesto launch: Fine Gael is all about family. Its commitment to family, said the leader, is "the critical point of difference" between it and the other lot. "It's hard-working families that built up this economy."

  • Bertie's woes fail to tempt careful Enda

    FG leader canvass: Enda Kenny was assiduous in his determination not to get involved in the Taoiseach's payments controversy and the Progressive Democrats' crisis on Saturday.

  • Mansergh shuns the 'egotism' of begging for votes

    On the canvass: Five years on from a baptism of fire on the South Tipperary canvass, five years of living in the constituency . . . What have you learned, Senator Mansergh?

  • Faithful made to wait but Kenny keeps his heartland ticking over

    Lorna Siggins with Enda Kenny: "We've been in the wilderness since Cromwell. It's time, it's high time Mayo got a break." It felt like almost four centuries, and Fine Gael campaign handler Thomas Collins was clearly weary of waiting. Waiting for his party to get back into government. Waiting for his man, with whom he had worked on more than 10 elections, to become leader of a fresh new team.

  • Parlon gives all the right answers down home on the range

    On the canvass - Kathy Sheridan with Tom Parlon in south Offaly: Hi there folks. Welcome to Parlon Country. Rolling hills, lush parkland, galloping great Georgian houses, ancient castles, horses, artists' studios, birdsong, the usual quota of yelping sheepdogs, whole packs of yapping designer dogs and a swathe of unfeasibly prosperous, grinning voters, ripe for a chat on a gleaming doorstep, SUV, tractor or trailer.

  • Greens get on their bikes, but opt for low-key canvass

    On the canvass - Róisín Ingle with Trevor Sargent: The Greens are different. For one thing, their leader arrived at yesterday's canvass in Co Wicklow on the Dart, alone and carrying a foldable bike.

  • Adams visit proves to be a moving experience for many

    Róisín Ingle with Gerry Adams: Gerry Adams moves people. To tears. While pounding the streets of Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, yesterday with local Sinn Féin candidate Martin Kenny, a dark-haired woman stops him in the street.

  • Strong winds as PDs go green

    Miriam Lord with Michael McDowell: Hats off to the PDs, who have made magnificent strides in their efforts to embrace the Green agenda.

  • Bertie's six seconds of silence fill the airwaves

    On the airwaves : Yesterday was a quiet day on the campaign trail, but it was six seconds of silence that proved the most interesting thing on the airwaves.

  • Rabbitte survives Red Cow jam in search of a stamp-duty acronym

    Miriam Lord with Pat Rabbitte

    Bizarre - Enda Kenny.

    Peculiar - Trevor Sargent.

    Byzantine - Pat Rabbitte.

    Wallpapergate is an acronym waiting to happen. An embarrassment of consonants are in place. Just a few vowels are needed now to elevate the strange story of Bertie's rented house to the minor Gubu league.

  • Drumcondra dig-out talk turns Bertie's day ugly

    The Taoiseach radiated resentment instead of pre-election bonhomie, writes Miriam Lord

  • 'Catchphrase Kenny' sets a blistering pace across royal county

    On the campaign trail with Enda Kenny: Enda Kenny is a man in a hurry. On the first full day of his election campaign, he dashed through Meath East and Meath West like sandy-haired greased lightning. Turns out he doesn't go on walkabouts - he goes on jogabouts. Even his team were hard-pressed to keep up with him as he pressed the flesh yesterday.

  • Gods of small things

    Despite living in his constituency we haven't spotted Bertie yet. Bit annoyed about this, because everyone else I know seems to be able to provide chapter and verse on some recent Bertie experience or other. Bertie in his local pub, Fagan's. Bertie on the hustings. Bertie hanging out near Holles Street, seeming embarrassed to admit his grandchildren are called Rocco and Jay, which in fairness you can understand.
Results
FF
78
FG
51
LAB
20
GP
6
OTH
5
SF
4
PD
2
Constituency Breakdown
Advertisement
Your Vote
Do you think the Greens are right to enter Government with FF and the PDs?