Journalist, author, broadcaster
IF ONLY every day was as easy for Enda Kenny, as, on a bright lunchtime in Dublin, the Fine Gael leader was elected Taoiseach. Last weekend’s ratification of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition pact paved the way for Kenny’s day in the sun, but even in victory there were signs that it will not be all […]
Ireland’s recent general election was the most dramatic in the country’s history: Fianna Fáil lost almost three-quarters of its seats, the hard Left made significant gains and Gerry Adams will now sit in the Dáil as the head of the fourth-largest party in Irish politics. But in an election of such surprises, the eventual result […]
I spent election day 2011 in the company of Mick Fealty from Slugger taking a roadtrip around Ireland as part of RTE’s election coverage. Here’s what we found: As former US Senator Tip O’Neill once quipped: ‘All politics is local’. The election campaign was dominated by national issues – jobs, emigration, the economy – but […]
Fine Gael and Labour will form a coalition government in Ireland following the ratification of a draft programme for government by a special Labour Party delegate conference in Dublin yesterday. Separately, the Fine Gael parliamentary party unanimously endorsed the proposed programme. After six days of talks, including lengthy meetings between Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny […]
By Peter Geoghegan in Dublin Ireland’s new leader-in-waiting, Enda Kenny, last night launched a fierce attack on the outgoing government for being removed from the people. As his party emerged the clear winner in the country’s general election, Kenny called on politicians to learn a lesson from the annihilation meted out to his rivals at […]
By PETER GEOGHEGAN in CAVAN TURNOUT at Ireland’s polling stations was reported as high yesterday, despite widespread scepticism that the incoming government will be able to drag the country out of recession. Fine Gael, the right-of-centre opposition in the last parliament, is still heavily tipped to form a government under leader Enda Kenny, ending decades […]
The English writer JB Priestley once compared opinion polls to “children in a garden, digging things up all the time to see how they’re growing.” While the latest polls in Scotland have unearthed surprisingly good news for the incumbent Alex Salmond, across the Irish Sea it was opposition leader Enda Kenny who woke yesterday morning […]
IRELAND’s prime minister Brian Cowen yesterday announced the dissolution of the Irish parliament, in what was probably the last act of his political career. The move brought to a close one of the most controversial governments in Ireland’s history and paved the way for the first general election since last year’s bailout of the economy […]
This piece on why Irish emigrants deserve to vote first appeared in the Guardian’s Comment is Free on 22/01/2011. The debate then moved to the Irish Times, where I also wrote a piece, and I appeared on Today FM’s The Last Word talking about the need for Irish emigrants to be allowed to vote on […]
What a difference a day makes. On Tuesday evening, Brian Cowen celebrated after defeating a motion of no confidence in his leadership tabled by foreign minister and party colleague Micheál Martin. “The party is united behind Brian Cowen as leader,” declared Fianna Fail chief whip John Curran. But barely 24 hours later, the Irish premier’s […]