The Figures are mind-boggling. Hard to take in. Ginormous. The increase spiralling so high that it is hard for a mere human being to comprehend them, to take it all in.
Yes, I am of course talking about Fianna Fail’s recovery in this morning’s Irish Times Ipsos mrbi poll. (more…)
Fine Gael have taken a hard line on the pairing arrangements. They clearly didn’t expect Ruairi Quinn to pull the rug from under from them. FG can’t very well backtrack but maybe will adopt a more flexible position. Would Labour really go in with FF after all?
Taoiseach in very good humour this weekend apparently. Must be the latest, not-that-bad poll showing. C.J. Haughey purported to disdain polls but that was a front. All politicians take them seriously. One wonders how much of Labour’s strength reflects a genuine shift to the left and how much is due to “pocketbook politics” on the part of punters who don’t want any pain. Too late for another FG heave? Looks like they will have to stick with Enda at this stage.
There is a rule attributed to Alastair Campbell about when the damage from a political scandal becomes irreparable.
If eleven days after the intitial controversy breaks in the media, the story is still being kept alive and prominent in the media, then the politician is a goner. (more…)
I am reproducing below an analysis piece on Fianna Fail which appeared in last Tuesday’s print edition of The Irish Times. It was written before the Taoiseach’s Morning Ireland interview and the subsequent storm that broke when Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney suggesed in a Tweet that Mr Cowen may have been drunk. Some people were kind enough to say the piece herewith was “prescient” but others may have a different view! (more…)
DEAGLÁN DE BRÉADÚN
This article appears in the print edition of The Irish Times, Sat, Sep 18, 2010
Sinn Féin’s credibility calls for some gains to be chalked up in the next general election
Obviously it’s almost impossible to separate what Taoiseach Brian Cowen said this morning from how he said it. However, posting a transcript here: (more…)
Should I put my press pass from the Fianna Fail think-in up for sale on Ebay? Depends on the long-term fall-out. The interview with Brian Cowen on Morning Ireland was a disaster. He sounded terrible, not necessarily hungover but bad enough for an opponent to put that construction on it. And so Fine Gael did, in the very unlikely person of Simon Coveney.
You have to admire, with a certain amount of alarm, the largely-unfettered commitment to free speech in the United States. In this country and probably many others, that pastor who is threatening to burn the Koran would be arrested for breach of the peace and the same reason would be given for refusing to allow an Islamic centre in the vicinity of Ground Zero. A world gone mad.
Before it reaches the end of its run at the Abbey Theatre, do try and get along to see the latest production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars. It is one of a number of productions of this play I have seen over the years at the national theatre and it happens to be a particularly good one. (more…)
Dail Deputies Liz McManus and Olwyn Enright will be missed in Leinster House. They both had plenty still to contribute. Surprised, though, that Age Action or other group of that nature did not complain about Liz’s reported statement that the didn’t want to be a TD with a bus-pass. If more TDs had bus-passes, inlcuding ministers and junior ministers, the public purse would save a fortune. No more “mercs and perks”.
A book I started reading on holidays was the wonderfully-gossipy ‘The Kennedy Women’ by Laurence Leamer, who quotes David Frost asking the Kennedy matriarch Rose (JFK’s mom): “Your sons have gone into politics, but you wouldn’t particularly urge your daughters to go into politics?”
Your humble scribe was fortunate to be among the 82,000 attendance at today’s thrilling All-Ireland Hurling Final where Tipperary overcame Kilkenny despite the latter’s hopes of making it five Liam McCarthy titles in a row.
Back in the swing this week. Didn’t miss much, news-wise, in my time off. The big story last week was Tony Blair and his visit to Dublin to promote his autobiography. Haven’t read the whole thing but the Northern Ireland chapter has an astonishing howler, in that he describes the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings as taking place in Belfast rather than Derry (at least he didn’t have to agonise over calling it Derry or Londonderry.) (more…)
Attitude is more important than aptitude to reach Altitude” In other words, how we think is more important ...
Everyone in business knows that at a certain point in a venture’s development, word of mouth is no longer en...
Other strategies you could use include hosting an open day for the media and locals. Make sure to offer plenty...
For many executives, when it comes to personal development and personal change, that’s exactly what coaching...
A business plan is essentially a future oriented description of how you intend to trade as a commercially viab...
To present users with the right results, search engines assess the words in your website's pages. They also ch...
It is understandable that investors may decline to invest when they do not share the entrepreneurs sense of th...
Marriage can be quite tax efficient and a means to get some money back into both of your newly married pockets...
We could all use a hand when it comes to tax. Well, the first 10 people to send an email to O2PLT@paylesstax.i...
Time to talk to that big competitor in your crosshairs!...
