Dear John, Right now, you’re probably wondering where to begin. Half your membership wants you to pull out of coalition on Tuesday, the rest want you to stick the course. The wiser course is probably to knuckle down and get on with it. But to make that work, you need to change some things. First.… Continue reading Two Hundred Words to John Gormley
Tag: leadership
Leading the Charge
If I was Enda Kenny, I’d be worried. He rescued his party from political oblivion in 2002, bringing them back from 31 to 51 seats in 2007. Thanks in part to Biffo’s cluelessness, he now finds himself at the head of a party with 38% support in the latest poll, about to deliver a historic… Continue reading Leading the Charge
De Mare
Dublin is to get a new directly-elected mayor within a year. The first directly elected city leader will be chosen by the capital’s citizens next summer. ‘2010 will see the direct election, by the people of the Dublin region, of a highly-visible and accountable Mayor who will have the authority and powers to deliver real… Continue reading De Mare
Eyes Only
Gardai question artist under caution: The Irish Times. Police quiz man over naked images of Irish PM in national gallery: The Belfast Telegraph. Cowen artist ‘could be charged’: BBC News. Artist Conor Casby faces jail after Brian Cowen made unwitting model for toilet humour: Times Online (Entertainment section). Irish PM bogged down by nude painting… Continue reading Eyes Only
Bare Faced Cheek
‘The visit by a Garda detective today to the offices of Today FM radio station, demanding that staff from the Ray Darcy Show hand over information they might have had about the artist of these pieces was astounding,’ Labour party Senator Alan Kelly said. ‘Does this investigation really represent the best use of scarce Garda… Continue reading Bare Faced Cheek
The Emperor’s New Clothes
FG Justice Spokesperson Charlie Flanagan criticised the decision by Gardaí to demand emails relating to the artist who painted nude portraits of Brian Cowen hung in two Dublin galleries. ‘At a time when the majority of gangland murders remain unsolved, to have Gardaí spending their time investigating what amounted to a practical joke that offended… Continue reading The Emperor’s New Clothes
The Naked Taoiseach
Yesterday, I wrote about RTÉ removing a film report on caricatures of Brian Cowen smuggled into two Dublin galleries. [Kudos at this point to Maman Poulet, who’s blog tipped me off to the story.] Since them, things have grown more serious. The images on the RTÉ website were removed, copy has been edited, and the… Continue reading The Naked Taoiseach
Bare Arse Biffo
You can tell a lot about the powerful by how they react to satire. In Ireland, the powerful tend to react badly. Older politicians still smart at the memory of Hall’s Pictorial Weekly, and can barely bring themselves to smile through gritted teeth when Scrap Saturday is mentioned. The result is a pale imitation of… Continue reading Bare Arse Biffo
Top-Down Attitude
Jason Roe is a web developer, who while trying to avoid the credit card surcharges from Ryanair came across a bug on the airline’s website which caused it to price its flights at zero. The responses to the post included one calling him “an idiot and a liar”, one claiming to have hacked his website… Continue reading Top-Down Attitude
Lend Me Your Ears
I suppose I should say something about that speech. Brian Cowen’s address to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, fortuitously recorded after most journalists had left, got quite a bit of play today, and no doubt cheered many Fianna Fáil supporters around the country. Extracts were played on several radio stations, commentators were asked for their… Continue reading Lend Me Your Ears