Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

English Queen and US President Obama Close the Phoenix Park

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A common argument in favour of the Obama and English Queen Visits to Dublin and other parts of Ireland is that tourism will be boosted :

Tourism Ireland Chief Niall Gibbons believes  “the visits of US President Barack Obama and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in May to yield a significant long term boost for the Irish tourism sector.”

http://www.newstalk.ie/2011/news/4tourism-chief-says-obama-queen-visits-will-boost-industry47/

Perhaps Mr Gibbons will comment on how the close down of Dublin City Centre for a week will affect tourism?

Horrendous Restrictions are planned : Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

May 13, 2011 at 8:42 am

Posted in 9/11 New York Terrorist Attack, Éirigí, Barack Obama, Britain, Censorship, Queen Elizabeth II, Tourism, United Left Alliance, USA

Stormont Assembly Results – McCann has a chance in Foyle

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John Meehan offers preliminary views on the Stormont Assembly first count results

The spin and chat is about Sinn Féin and Democratic Unionist Party gains in the 2011 Stormont Assembly Elections  –

hold the horses!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/36717.stm

http://www.u.tv/Election2011/results.aspx

The first preference totals above show very small changes in the first preference vote shares gained by the main parties.  It follows, as night comes after day, we are very unlikely to  see a lot of movement in final party totals, once all 108 seats are filled. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

May 7, 2011 at 9:50 am

Posted in Ireland

Gilmore’s Goons May Visit You Soon! – Broy’s Harriers Ride Again

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Gilmore’s Goons May “Visit” You Soon – Broy’s Harriers Ride Again
Labour Leader and Tánaiste Eamonn Gilmore, Enda Kenny’s second-in-command, has advised citizens to expect “visits” from the political police, possibly instructed or escorted by USA “counter-terrorist” operatives – that is one possible meaning to be taken from this RTÉ News Report :

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

May 4, 2011 at 2:24 pm

Posted in Barack Obama, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Queen Elizabeth II, USA

Barack Obama Boasts of One Death – Ignores Countless Others

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The bare facts seem clear : USA military forces executed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan on May Day 2011 –

Will this protect Barack from far-right opponents? – only time will tell, but do not count your chickens :

http://thebrokenelbow.com/2011/04/28/the-american-right-a-case-study-in-lunacy/

I tend to agree with Patrick Scott :

“This attack had nothing to do with justice or retribution. It was all about helping get Barack Obama re-elected President in 2012.

Osama Bin Laden had the blood of many innocents on his hands. But that was nothing compared to the blood of millions of innocents on the hands of US imperialism.” Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

May 2, 2011 at 1:05 pm

Posted in 9/11 New York Terrorist Attack, USA

Six County Referendum on May 5 – Alternative Vote or First Past the Post?

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Gavin Stamp has published what appears to be an accurate summary of party political opinions about the Alternative Vote Versus First Past the Post Referendum on the BBC website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11609887

The six-county summary is interesting – I do not know if People Before Profit has a position – I hope Socialist Workers’ Party members declare a mini unilateral declaration of independence from the London mother-ship – judging from Mark P’s comment

https://tomasoflatharta.com/2011/04/26/do-most-british-far-left-groups-understand-proportional-voting-systems/#comments

the Socialist Party is a lost cause, this chip will not stray too far from its block! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Apr 30, 2011 at 12:51 pm

Posted in Britain, European Union, General Election 2011, Ireland, People Before Profit, Referendums, Six County Elections 2011, Socialist Party

Do Most British Far-Left Groups Understand Proportional Voting Systems?

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The answer appears to be a resounding NO!

In Ireland – both sides of the border – we are used to the Proportional Representation (PR) Voting System – it is used for all state elections in the part of Ireland ruled from Dublin – the other bit, ruled from Belfast, uses PR for assembly and local elections, but is lumbered with the First Past the Post method in Westminster polls.

The system is not perfect by any means – but it does mean seats are won more or less in proportion to votes cast – it would be even more proportional if constituencies were larger than the current five seat limit which applies in 26 County Dáil elections, or if we used a list system, as is used in the German State. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Apr 26, 2011 at 1:59 pm

Posted in Britain, European Union, Ireland, People Before Profit, Referendums, Sinn Féin, Six County Elections 2011, Socialist Party

Bernadette McAliskey Says Vote for People Before Profit in the May 5 Stormont Assembly Election

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Well Done Bernadette! :

http://www.eamonnmccann.com/1/post/2011/04/bernadette-mcaliskey-voting-for-people-before-profit.html

The former Mid-Ulster MP is also supporting Patricia Campbell And other independent left candidates :

http://www.facebook.com/people/Vote-Patricia-Campbell/100002194692882

A left unity strategy is happening in the six counties, as well as the twenty-six (let us hope the United Left Alliance continues to develop in a positive way after the February 25 result, when  five ULA TD’s won seats in the current Dáil).

Written by tomasoflatharta

Apr 25, 2011 at 10:22 pm

Posted in General Election 2011, Ireland, People Before Profit, Six County Elections 2011, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

Gene Kerrigan – A Pearl Among Sunday Independent Swine

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We continue from last week, with our one gripe against the Cedar Lounge Comrades – and still recommend readers to avoid the Sunday Independent, with one exception.

Once again Gene Kerrigan is well worth reading, this time on the subject of corporate donations :


http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/gene-kerrigan/

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 27, 2011 at 2:22 pm

Posted in Ireland

Enda wants a nicer cabin on the Titanic – Gene Kerrigan gets it right

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I can understand right-wing people reading the Sunday Independent, but cannot relate to lefties who insist on referring us all to a poorly researched, written and edited rag.

The Cedar Lounge site  is a great resource,

http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/

but one regular column which should always be avoided is the “Sunday Independent Stupid Statement of the Week”.

On the other hand Gene Kerrigan continues to write excellent articles every Sunday – surrounded by a media dung-heap :

and I strongly recommend this :

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/gene-kerrigan/gene-kerrigan-enda-wants-a-nicer-cabin-on-the-titanic-2586302.html

Let’s hope ULA TD’s follow this up!

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 20, 2011 at 1:56 pm

Posted in Ireland

Labour Voters – How Cool Are They About Coalition With the Right?

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John Meehan has put together a statistical analysis of Labour Party lower preferences, where no other Labour candidate is in the contest (these are known as terminal transfers), and candidates from both the left and right are still in the race.

The table is at the end of this article.

=======================================

Healthy debate is developing on this blog and other Irish sites on the composition of the Labour Party’s electoral base.  The February 2011 General Election broke new ground in many ways, and we can learn a lot from detailed study of the numbers.

An interesting question is : how keen are Labour voters on coalition with the right?  How sympathetic are they to the arguments of left rivals that helping to elect Enda Kenny as taoiseach is a very bad idea? Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 15, 2011 at 10:18 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

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