Ireland Election News

Link to Original ArticleANALYSIS The surge for Fine Gael since the campaign began has rattled a Labour Party which had hopes of becoming the biggest party in State, writes STEPHEN COLLINS  ONE OF the most momentous elections in Irish political history has taken an unexpected turn in recent days with the increasingly bitter exchanges between the [...]

Link to Original ArticleCHECKS on the development of infants in their early months can be crucial to their life-long wellbeing. In theory, all undergo these checks by the age of 10 months, but figures from the HSE show that the reality is well below that target across the country. In the east, only 61pc are [...]

Link to Original ArticleIRISH TIMES REPORTERS Fine Gael has denied allegations that it tried to censor an interview with party leader Enda Kenny on Newstalk Radio. The interview, which was conducted yesterday and broadcast on this morning’s Breakfast Show , did not allude to the controversy surrounding Mr Kenny’s teacher’s pension. Newstalk’s Chris O’Donoghue revealed that [...]

Link to Original ArticleDEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN Political Correspondent SINN FÉIN has proposed that all constituencies in Dáil elections should be seven-seaters but that the total number of constituencies would be reduced from the current 43. One-third of the Dáil’s membership would be elected on a list system and consideration should also be given to reducing [...]

Link to Original ArticleHARRY McGEE, Political Correspondent HIS THREE rival candidates in the battle to succeed Brian Cowen as Fianna Fáil leader have conceded that Micheál Martin is the “the leader in the clubhouse” ahead of tomorrow’s leadership vote by the party’s 71 TDs. But all are convinced that there is a large block of [...]

Link to Original Article“We are feasting over the carcass of Fianna Fail,” the Dublin South West Brian Hayes said to me on Friday when explaining why Fine Gael and Labour are at each other’s throats. “This isn’t an election between us and Fianna Fail. It’s between Fine Gael and Labour,” he said. And the polls [...]

Link to Original ArticleTHE debate at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday night was whether Hooperman, the Shamrock Rovers mascot, or Charlie O’Connor was better known among the fans from the area. The Fianna Fail TD for Dublin South-West has mentioned his political base so often, he’s branded in Leinster House as ‘Charlie O’Connor from Tallaght’. But [...]

Link to Original ArticlePAUL CULLEN CONSTITUENCY PROFILE DUBLIN SOUTH West is proof of the law of gravity that tells us what goes up must come down – invariably sooner than expected. For two elections running now, the poll-topper in this constituency has come a cropper in the election that followed. Brian Hayes stormed home in 1997, [...]

Link to Original ArticleTHERE may have been no blood on the floor, or no knock-out punch landed by either side, but it was Micheal’s glove that was hoisted at the end of the first bout. TV3 did their best to turn it into the Battle of Ballymount or the Ding-Dong of Dublin South-West, but really [...]

Link to Original ArticleFIANNA Fail leader Micheal Martin said the party can no longer look at candidate selection through the prism of the 2007 General Election. At the weekend, he acted on his belief that running two candidates in some constituencies could split the vote and leave the party with no seat. He persuaded Cork [...]