My father showed me the brochure when I got home for the weekend. It looked well, very professionally produced, four A4 pages with full colour on glossy paper, good photographs, well lit, clearly taken by someone who knew their craft. The accompanying copy was well designed, not too wordy, but hit all the important bullet …
Tag Archive: Fianna Fáil
May 05
Celebrity Games
Fianna Fail are set to trump the Fine Gael coup in landing George Lee as an election candidate, announcing the Seoige Sisters as MEP candidates in the Ireland Northwest constituency. Stung by the news that one of their harshest economic critics is set to take the hustings for the opposition, party mandarins immediately met in …
Apr 02
Promises, Promises
Employers want to cut dole payments by 3%. They mentioned a few other ways for the government to save or raise money too, including an increase in the income levy, but the dole cut is the one making headlines. But some taxes should not be hiked, namely corporation tax, VAT and excise duties. Meanwhile Labour …
Jan 07
Class Act
Government ministers have increased pressure on Beverly Flynn to give up her €41K independent’s allowance. Speaking on The Last Word with Matt Cooper on Today FM Éamon Ó Cuív said Beverly Flynn’s decision to continue claiming the independent TDs allowance was unwise. ‘I think she’s foolish.’ ‘I heard the technical point that she has made …
Nov 19
Blog The Vote
It’s old news at this stage, but in the hours after the US election results came in, several news outlets reported that Fianna Fáil would look to the lessons that could be learned from Barack Obama’s campaign. But while media reports concentrated on the glossy finish to the campaign, with it’s use of blogs, twitters …
Sep 29
Opinion Piece
Can a politician — particularly a member of a governing party — truly have a personal opinion? Earlier this summer, Dick Roche announced that Ireland should hold a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty — in his personal opinion. There’s no date for the re-vote yet, but that particular personal opinion seems to be almost …
Sep 16
The End Of History
Lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas, goes the conventional wisdom. As with many things though, the conventional wisdom is mistaken. Lie down with dogs and, as the Progressive Democrats found to their cost, the dog will most likely eat you. It’s easy to point to the last election as the moment when …
Sep 05
Lump It
Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar wants to give unemployed immigrants a lump sum if they agree to leave the country. Fianna Fáil TD Thomas Byrne was delighted to pounce on the idea, from a member of the same party that last week called for ‘segregation‘ in schools, denouncing it as a policy ‘in the dishonourable tradition …
Jul 25
Experience
Consider the following: Biffo and Dermot Ahern were solicitors. Micheál Martin, Mary Harney, Mary Hanafin and Noel Dempsey were secondary school teachers. Mary Coughlan was a social worker. Brian Lenihan was a lecturer and qualified barrister. Willie O’Dea was a qualified barrister and accountant. Batt O’Keeffe was a lecturer. Brendan Smith was a political handler. …
Jul 11
Holy Law
A group of Dáil backbenchers have quietly declared war on God. The joint committee on the Constitution yesterday published a report on freedom of expression and blasphemy. Bunreacht na hÉireann allows the Oireachtas to punish the publishers of ‘blasphemous, seditious or indecent matters’. However, a Defamation bill making its way into law abolishes the offence …