Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘General Election 2011’ Category

Should Irish Times ex-Trot Journalists Throw Stones in their Glass-House?

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This is a fascinating article about the far-left history of many new TD’s.

Left Lineages

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0304/1224291281717.html

where the talented author Patrick Smyth observes “Today the majority of them, now firmly in the bosom of Labour, have rejected revolution, embrace wholeheartedly its centrist social democratic values, and are politically indistinguishable from their Old Labour colleagues.”

Absolutely right.

Ex-comrade Patrick Smyth advises his current fellow-thinkers not to get too alarmed by the growth of the real fighting left “Although the ULA should work as an informal marriage of convenience, attempts to create a party out of its constituent elements may prove more difficult. Ideological purity on the hard left comes easier than the much-desired oxymoron that is “left unity”. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 5, 2011 at 4:06 pm

Posted in European Union, General Election 2011, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

Why Does The Irish Labour Party Seek Fine Gael’s Kiss-of-Death?

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In the last days of the 2011 Irish General Election Campaign Labour Party leaders and spinners are warning that the voters might choose a Fine Gael single party government. Their alternative? : Coalition – Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny for Taoiseach, Labour’s Eamon Gilmore the Tánaiste – that’s the message.

SIPTU leader Jack O’Connor, for example, claims “that a coalition government would be far preferable as the country imposes spending cuts as part of its EU and IMF bailout.

“If you look at the lessons of history, they (Fine Gael) haven’t been in government on their own since 1927 when their predecessor Cumann na nGaedheal was in government,”….

“They pursued policy which resulted in economic stagnation for 60 years. And that’s the kind of policy that’s being advocated by both of the centre-right parties at the present time.”

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/ireland-politics-union-idUKLDE71E2C620

First – is a single-party Fine Gael government possible or likely?

We will know for sure on Saturday February 26 – at the time of writing, if the polls are right, a single party Fine Gael government is possible but unlikely.

http://politicalreform.ie/2011/02/22/seat-estimates-for-irish-independent-millward-brown-lansdowne-opinion-poll-23rd-february/#more-2337

A second factor is political – many Fine Gael backers, for example the former party leader Garret FitzGerald, argue that coalition with Labour is a better tactical option for this right-wing party. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Feb 23, 2011 at 12:32 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), Opinion Polls, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, SIPTU, Socialist Party, Trade Unions, UNITE, United Left Alliance

Joan Collins to Offer Radical Alternative – RTE’s Frontline Programme, Monday February 21

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Message from the Joan Collins Site :

“I have agreed to go on panel on Frontline on Monday evening. It’s on after the  9pm news. Also last Friday I had a BBC Panorama crew with me for the afternoon in Drimnagh. They are doing an election special on Ireland, also on Monday evening.”

http://joan-collins.org/2011/02/19/appearing-on-panel-on-frontlines-rte-monday-night/

Joan’s campaign was featured in the Irish Times, Thursday February 17 :

Collins aims to offer radical alternative

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0217/1224290025041.html

Joan Collins Flyer :

http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/flyer-from-joan-collins-people-before-profit-united-left-alliance-dublin-south-central/

500 Words from Joan Collins :

http://www.drimnaghisgood.com/2011/02/16/500-words-from-joan-collins-people-before-profit-canidate-for-dublin-south-central/

United Left Alliance Prospects? Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Feb 20, 2011 at 3:42 pm

Posted in European Union, Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), Opinion Polls, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

Opinion Polls – All Saying the Same Thing?

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Reading this article is refreshing –

http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/ah-these-polls-you-bring-us-surprisingly-consistent/

if you check out various articles on the political reform.ie site – for example :

http://politicalreform.ie/2011/02/05/red-csunday-business-post-seat-estimates-based-on-kavanagh-poll-analysis/

You will see that most analysts who have studied statistics agree that the variation in reliable polls is within the margin of error.

Hindsight usually brings us close to perfection, we get the benefit of 20-20 vision.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Feb 9, 2011 at 9:33 am

Posted in General Election 2011, Ireland, Opinion Polls

Make a Bonfire of Irish Banking Vanities

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The magazine Vanity Fair has published a sensational article “When Irish Eyes are Crying” –

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/03/michael-lewis-ireland-201103?currentPage=1

It caught the attention of the Guardian Correspondent Lisa O’Carroll who observes :

“Any Irish reader who wants to save being offended can skip the last quarter of the article which leaves an impression that the Ireland is a land of fairies, potato farmers and rural unsophisticates.

But the article is well worth reading. It packages the drama of the last two years and particularly last November brilliantly.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/ireland-business-blog-with-lisa-ocarroll/2011/feb/02/ireland-merrill-lynch-research-note-irish-banks?INTCMP=SRCH Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Feb 5, 2011 at 10:41 pm

Posted in Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Ireland

Table Quiz, Support Joan Collins United Left Alliance, Dublin South-Central

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Rag-Bag Productions Proudly Presents :

A Table Quiz to support Joan Collins’ run for the Dáil :

Thursday February 10, 8.30pm, in the Teachers’ Club,
36 Parnell Square, Dublin 1

Brought to You by the Motley Crew

Joan Collins, a Dublin City Councillor, is running for a Dáil Seat in the Constituency of Dublin South-Central. The General Election is coming soon – on Friday February 25.

Joan is a People Before Profit Candidate, part of the United Left Alliance (ULA), which is tipped to win six or more seats in the new Dáil.

http://politicalreform.ie/2011/02/01/irish-independent-poll-2nd-february-2011/

Joan hit the media headlines by interrupting an RTÉ interview with former Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil Leader Bertie Ahern about his last days in Leinster House, headquarters of Dáil Éireann, the Irish Parliament.

http://www.youtube.com/PeopleBeforeProfitTV#p/u/9/uAL2OPGg-ak Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Feb 3, 2011 at 7:45 pm

Posted in General Election 2011, Humour, Ireland, People Before Profit, United Left Alliance

Joan Collins – Campaigning in Meath Street (Videos)

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Joan Collins first won a seat on Dublin City Council in 2004, and was re-elected in 2009 with an increased share of the vote in the Crumlin-Kimmage ward. In 2011 she is a People Before Profit / United Left Alliance candidate in Dublin South-Central. Joan doorstepped ex-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the gates of Leinster House this week, asking why he had no “shame” about the state of the country, ruined by the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. Have a look at Joan’s campaign in the Meath Street area on Saturday January 29 2011 – it looks like she has struck a chord with many working class people.

The reaction to Joan’s handbagging of Bertie Ahern was very positive and good-humoured – take a look at these short videos made by John Meehan :

Meath Street Butchers discuss ex-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s retirement regrets with Dublin South-Central United Left Alliance General Election candidate Joan Collins and Dermot Connolly.

http://www.facebook.com/v/1730560898133 Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Feb 1, 2011 at 12:31 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Humour, Ireland, People Before Profit, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

Labour Leadership Offensive to the Left, Offensive Against the Left

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Thanks to Des Derwin for this article, also published here :

http://www.irishleftreview.org/2011/01/25/godsend-sinn-fin-left/

The Finance Bill stroke is the latest, but greatest, in a line of indications that Labour in government will be on the good ship Austerity.

Until fairly recently I would have counselled my friends on the left against rejecting calls for an all-left alliance out of hand and, instead, for saying to Labour and Sinn Féin, ‘reject coalition and austerity and we can all ally’. The clarity of Labour’s intentions makes this position redundant. More, the Labour leadership has now gone on the offensive against the ULA and Sinn Féin, against the rest of an all-left alliance.

http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/talk-away-mister-higgins/

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Jan 25, 2011 at 6:57 pm

Posted in Abortion, Feminism, Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, Socialist Party, Trade Unions, UNITE, United Left Alliance

Kill the Finance Bill – Burn the Bondholders!

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See discussion here :

http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/so-what-happens-next/

Line of Action :
Kill the Finance Bill
Dissolve the Dáil and announce a new General Election date before March 11

The Green Party/Fianna Fáil policy – apparently supported by Fine Gael – of passing the Finance bill this week should be rejected out of hand.

Call the bluff of the right-wing – do not tolerate hypocrites pretending to oppose the government, but in fact hoping the austerity package is passed – and after a General Election Fine Gael and their Labour coalition colleagues will say they are in “a straitjacket”, their “hands are tied”, and so on.

Kill the Finance Bill – Burn the Bondholders! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Jan 23, 2011 at 7:57 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), Sinn Féin

Legislate for abortion rights for Irish Women now – A call for Action

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FEMINIST OPEN FORUM

After the ABC case . . .

Legislate for abortion rights for Irish Women now

A call for Action

Thursday 27th January, 7.30pm in the Central Hotel

Speakers include representatives from the Irish Family Planning Association, Alliance for Choice, Choice Ireland and People Before Profit


The recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of ABC v Ireland is an important victory for Irish women in their fight to secure their right to access abortion in their own country. In particular the ECHR unanimous criticism of the Irish government’s failure to provide legislation in line with the X case Judgement, highlights decades of political cowardice and active negligence by the state.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Jan 23, 2011 at 7:24 pm

Posted in Abortion, Feminism, General Election 2011, Ireland, People Before Profit

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