Did Dr James Reilly, Minister for Health, know the company believed to be recommending closing Portiuncula maternity hospital was ‘Health Partnership’ set up by his appointee as Chair to the Hospitals Group which acts on the report? An exchange in the Seanad last night between the Cathaoirleach Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Féin) suggests as much. The exchange took place under House privilege and allegations … Read More
Joan’s Youth Guarantee
Joan Burton, Minister for Social Destruction, launched her bid for leadership of the Labour Party today. She addressed the Seanad on the Youth Guarantee. We looked up today’s hot new internships to see what the future holds for Youth citizens of Joan’s Brave New World. 39 Hours per week in a car wash, for your dole plus €50 and you’ll learn about the two kinds of ‘detergants’ [sic]. … Read More
Candidate Camera
‘Buachaill’ went door to door in Dublin with real government policies to see how popular Fine Gael & Labour are with the public. Posing as a Fine Gael candidate, he voices his support for the Water Tax, levies on wages and proposing a chimney tax. Did it go down well? “Get out of me garden now or I’ll ring the police.” “Get out that gate before I fucking stab ya.” … Read More
White Envelopes
Ah sure, it’s what you do during an election. Council candidate, Noel Rock of Fine Gael pledges himself as the ‘No Expenses’ candidate for the Glasnevin/Whitehall/Ballymun ward in the upcoming local election. Noel has his canvassing material delivered in Seanad envelopes. h/t John Nisbet
See Ye All In Coppers
The visits of her Maj and Barack O’Bama saw thousands of Gardaí loll about an empty city centre for days on end and a policing bill of over €35m. In contrast the heavy policing of serious violence in Northern Ireland’s ‘Fleg’ disputes saw a total cost of £15m. Why so much here? Figures released in Northern Ireland showed a total policing cost of £15.6m over the two … Read More
What You Do During An Election
Promises, promises. Every now and again we get a little chuckle from digging up some statements of dearly held beliefs that were cast aside after elections. A visit to Irish Election Literature brought up this doozy from Labour’s Joanna Tuffy. That text in full: The move by Environment Minister John Gormley to install a water meter in every home in Ireland represents a retrograde step towards the introduction of a regressive tax. … Read More
Enda’s Vision, horse manure and forks for all
Here we go again. Harry’s Restaurant in Inishowen, Co.Donegal are offering one lucky graduate an internship in growing vegetables (at no cost to themselves). The fortunate candidate will receive €50 on top of their dole (although may lose other benefits) and be removed from the Live Register. Skill Requirements: Must like working outdoors in the pissing rain. That’ll be Noonan’s Trickle-Down Economy right there.
Finger on the Pulse
Gemma Hussey has been out of politics for 25 years but shows she still has that Fine Gael knack for being completely removed from the focking poor people of Ireland. She dictates her tweets to her butler.
Ministry of Truth
The Conservative Party has attempted to erase a 10-year backlog of speeches from the internet, including pledges for a new kind of transparent politics the prime minister and chancellor made when they were campaigning for election. On Wednesday, Computer Weekly reported that a 10-year backlog of material dating from before 2010 had been removed from the party website. It was also claimed the material had been made inaccessible from search engines at … Read More
Are Garda leaks political?
In light of the recent arrest of Clare Daly under suspicion of driving while intoxicated it prompted some commentators to note that this story was leaked immediately to the press because Daly is a vociferous anti-corruption campaigner. But surely if a representative from the conservative hegemony was suspected of a similar act it would hit the headlines immediately? We cast our net back a couple of years and pulled in … Read More