Posts Tagged ‘irish-politics’
“If Northerners had a vote, Catherine Connolly would be our next president” – Justine McCarthy’s interesting comment on the 2025 Irish Presidential Election
This article was published in the September 26 2025 edition of the Irish Times.
If Northerners had a vote, Catherine Connolly would be our next president
Northerners have a vested interest in an election portrayed as seminal for the abolition of partition. But they don’t have a vote
Catherine Connolly’s presidential election campaign would be a stroll to the park if Ireland honoured all its citizens’ rights. Instead, the Independent candidate is being accused of lip service by two parties that have ensured the exclusion of hundreds of thousands of potential voters from choosing their head of state.
Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland are allowed no say in an election that is being billed as crucial to their future constitutional status. Sinn Féin insists the next president must “champion a united Ireland”. Fine Gael says its candidate, Heather Humphreys, as a Presbyterian from a Border county, would symbolically unite the island. Fianna Fáil presents its candidate, Jim Gavin, as being Border-blind due to his involvement with the all-island GAA. Yet those living in the North’s six counties are silenced in the election. Their continuing exclusion reduces them to nominal citizens.
Addressing his party’s annual conference last weekend, DUP leader Gavin Robinson rebuked the Republic for what he called its “institutional intolerance of Protestant culture and heritage” but the southern State’s starker prejudice is against its own citizens in the North. Under the 1956 Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, affirmed by the 1998 Belfast Agreement, people in Northern Ireland are entitled to choose to be citizens of Ireland. As such, the Irish President is their president. Ever since Mary Robinson’s election to the Áras in 1990, the office’s holders have striven to represent them with their presence and their utterances. But across the Liffey in Government Buildings the realpolitik means that extending voting rights to Northern citizens would be electoral hara-kiri, virtually handing Sinn Féin the presidency on a plate.
Read the rest of this entry »Dark Comedy Show : Will Maria Steen be a Far-Right Frankenstein Candidate on the Irish Presidential ballot? – It is odds-on, a racing certainty
Let’s have a little fun regarding the nomination campaign of the conservative far-right, anti-choice and racist candidate Maria Steen; Steen is a veteran or Ireland’s anti-choice movement; readers can stay up-to-date here :
“Independent Ireland is expected to make a decision tomorrow or Wednesday morning.
Their decision could influence whether other TDs or senators – rumoured to include a small number on the conservative wing of Fianna Fáil – would lend her their vote before the presidential nomination deadline of noon on Wednesday.” (RTÉ News Report).
The entire Fianna Fáil organisation is conservative – although occasionally it makes gestures towards the left. Between 2011 and 2018 the party leadership realised it had to dump a too close association with Catholic Church anti-feminism and the vile crime of institutional child abuse. It is continuing this tactic by nominating the high-profile Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) figure Jim Gavin to be President of Ireland. Gavin states he is pro-choice, pro same-sex marriage, and voted to lift the constitutional ban on abortion in 2018. These statements make him totally unacceptable to the Irish far-right, which includes Maria Steen and the Aontú party led by ex Sinn Féin TD Peader Tóibín, who is in charge of the Maria Steen bingo card. It is a racing certainty Steen will be on the presidential ballot – she has the nominations of 13 or 14 Oireachtas members plus 4 from the Irish Independent party.
Read the rest of this entry »Fine Gael Presidential Candidate Heather Humphreys – is her family’s Orange Order Background relevant?
Irish Presidential Elections – Dirty Personalised Attacks
Irish presidential elections have a history of dirty personalised attacks.
The 2025 campaign will feature similar personalised attacks. The Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys was a right-wing minister in recent governments. Her family background includes relatives who were members of a reactionary far-right organisation, the Orange Order. The problem here is that nobody can control their family origins. Every living Irish person can go back a few decades and discover nasty skeletons in the cupboard. Humphreys, who favours ending the partition of Ireland, is no exception.
Sometimes the personalised attacks work, on other occasions they backfired.
During the 1990 campaign Fianna Fáil discovered to their horror that their candidate Brian Lenihan was likely to lose the contest to Mary Robinson, a candidate nominated by the Labour party. Government minister Padraig Flynn stated that Robinson had “a new-found interest in her family”. It went down very badly. Robinson, a lawyer who had a civil rights and feminist background, became the Irish state’s first female president, and the first candidate who defeated a Fianna Fáil candidate in the race to live for 7 years in the luxurious Áras an Úachtaráin in the Phoenix Park.
In 1997 the canny Fianna Fáil party nominated a female lawyer and journalist, Mary MacAleese, who was born in the six-county bit of Ireland. The new FF candidate was anti-abortion and had a human rights record on other issues. This prompted an anonymous campaign claiming that MacAleese was a closet supporter of the IRA’s armed campaign during “The Troubles”. A separate campaign was launched against the Labour Party’s candidate Adi Roche claiming, amongst other things, that her brother was thrown out of the Irish state’s army in the early 1970’s for supporting armed defence of the nationalist minority in the six counties. The anti-Roche smear worked, but MacAleese stormed to victory. The Fine Gael party is the number one suspect for originating these personalised attacks, but this was never proved.
In 2011 an independent candidate Seán Gallagher seemed certain of victory until devastating evidence entered the public arena via a six-county businessperson, Mr Morgan from Armagh. Gallagher was a bagman for the Fianna Fáil party, and had relieved Mr Morgan of a substantial amount of money without returning a favour. Mr Morgan was wealthy, deeply involved in the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), and was a sponsor of his county team, Armagh. In Mr Gallagher’s trade you don’t mess with wealthy men, a lesson the candidate learned to his cost.
Kincora House and Lord Mountbatten (grand uncle of King Charles) – Chris Moore and Suzanne Breen Say “It is long past the time that the full truth was told about what happened in the house of horrors” – they are 100 per cent right
We wish to again congratulate the dogged investigative reporter Chris Moore for putting so much dedicated hard work into a shocking story which will not go away.
This smoking volcano has become more active recently. The criminal scandal will not go away, and further political action is vital. We are duty bound to keep up the pressure and, above all, support the victims of horrendous British state crimes.
For decades the Belfast Kincora child abuse scandal has attracted false and unverified accusations. In my own case I refused to believe many rumours about the involvement of Lord Mountbatten in a child abuse ring because no credible evidence was placed in the public arena.
At the Dublin Irish Film Institute (IFI) launch of the stunning documentary “Lost Boys of Belfast” in 2023 I made this observation to one of the documentary makers, Chris Moore.
I had noticed there was no reference to Mountbatten in the sensational documentary. Chris confirmed that the documentary makers made no mention of the Mountbatten allegations because they possessed no credible proof.
Read the rest of this entry »Irish General Election 2024 : Corruption and Racist CV of Head Beggar-Gombeen Michael Lowry TD; Bacik Pulls Labour Out of Coalition Talks
Michael Lowry TD is currently in the news as he is the “point of contact” for the Beggar-Gombeen (BG) Regional Independent Group of Dáil deputies negotiating a coalition deal with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (FFFG). One of Lowry’s BG colleagues, Verona Murphy, was elected Dáil Ceann Comhairle on December 18, paving the way for the creation of a coalition government bringing together FFFG and the BG’s in January 2025.
FFFG’s coalition options are narrowing, as the Labour party has confirmed it is unwilling to be a coalition mudguard.
Source :
The Labour party will not be a FFFG Mudguard – Ivana Bacik pulls out of coalition government talks
Lowry is a former Fine Gael Minister who had to resign in 1995 over his suspicious financial connections with wealthy business men Denis O’Brien, Ben Dunne, and others. He was marooned on the backbenches, for very good reasons.
The State’s Moriarty Tribunal investigated the finances of Lowry, former Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey, and many other establishment politicians.
The Moriarty Tribunal, officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, was an Irish Tribunal of Inquiry established in 1997 into the financial affairs of politicians Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry. It has revealed significant tax evasion by these and other politicians and leading businessmen. As a consequence, the tax authorities have recovered millions of euro in settlements and penalties from many individuals
Michael Lowry’s financial connections to Denis O’Brien (a wealthy businessman) who secured a pot of gold (a licence to set up a mobile phone network in Ireland) were thoroughly investigated. Here are the 2011 Moriarty Tribunal Conclusions :
Link
Moriarty Tribunal – Conclusions, Michael Lowry TD
Lowry has a strong racist CV.
“I am Not A Racist”…..But
Lowry is a well-dressed suit-and-tie racist (STR).
The trick is to oppose the housing of vulnerable immigrants in your own constituency.
Dishonest reasons are proposed : buildings should be used for something else : locals need a nursing home, a hotel…….anything but safe accommodation for immigrants. Arson and rioting drives immigrants onto the streets or sub-standard accommodation such as Crooksling in Dublin’s Clondalkin. But that is bad publicity for a STRs such as Lowry.
So, verbal gymnastics :
Ireland’s current immigartion policy is unfit for purpose and ‘ordinary people’ in communities around the country are angry, Deputy Michael Lowry told the Dáil.
“Taoiseach, recently in the Dail I addressed you in relation to the resentment that is simmering in towns and villages across Ireland. This genuine and heartfelt anger is not coming from organised groups such as we witnessed in Dublin last week, it is coming from ordinary people”, the Tipperary TD said on Tuesday addressing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Justice Minister, Helen McEntee.
“People are filled with pent-up worry, fear and frustration at how their communities have changed due to the influx of International Protection applicants. It has reached a stage where people fear the Department will target every vacant building in their communities.
Source :
Modify and rebalance Ireland’s immigration policy – Michael Lowry
Conclusions
- Lowry “secured the winning” of the 1995 mobile licence for O’Brien.
- O’Brien made two payments to Lowry in 1996 and 1999 totalling IR£500,000 (£147,000 and £300,000) and supported a loan of £420,000 given to Lowry in 1999, a benefit equivalent to a payment.
- Lowry imparted substantive information to O’Brien which was “of significant value and assistance to him in securing the licence”.
- Lowry bypassed consideration by his Cabinet colleagues and thereby not only influenced, but delivered the result for Esat Digifone.
- A US$50,000 donation to Fine Gael was made through Telenor on behalf of Esat Digifone.
- Lowry sought to influence a hike in the lease for Marlborough House (Telecom Éireann headquarters) following a request from Mr Dunne. These rent increases would have improperly enriched Dunne, and were deemed to be “profoundly corrupt”.
- Lowry was criticised for his “cynical and venal abuse of office” and his brazen refusal to acknowledge the impropriety of his financial arrangements with O’Brien and Dunne.
Anti-racists conclude (correctly) that STR racism is racism.
So Michael Lowry offers statements that do not follow logically from his opening words : non-sequiturs.
“Irish people are not racist, I am not racist. People welcomed the victims of the war in Ukraine with open arms. They have willingly opened their hearts to those in need.
“But Taoiseach, I believe it is time to modify and rebalance our immigration policy”
People familiar with the career of the six-county racist rabble-rouser Ian Paisley know the pattern. Fire up racist mobs, stand back as the arsonists and racist mobs take direct action, deny responsibility.
The Racquet Hall premises in Roscrea Co. Tipperary hit the headlines in 2024 for many bad reasons – a racist mob attacked vulnerable people trying to enter a new Direct Provision Centre. Lowry fanned the flames win this Dáil speech addressed to then government minister Heather Humphreys :
“On four different occasions in the past year, I have raised the subject of immigration policy and lack of strategy. Each time I spoke in this Chamber I illustrated Roscrea as a classic example of a system that is not working.
“A town that was overburdened, overwhelmed and in urgent need of vital services to be improved and supplemented. This Government did not listen. You ignored the legitimate and genuine concerns of the people of Roscrea’ he said.
“The people of Roscrea are compassionate by nature. After assurances of enhanced support networks they accepted without protest a Direct Provision Centre with hundreds of asylum seekers and also a Centre to house 400 Ukrainian Refugees.
“The reality is that this influx accounts for up to 20% of the population of Roscrea. Therefore under any sensible, reasonable, logical or sustainable criteria you would have to conclude that Roscrea had exceeded it’s capacity.
“Roscrea is a traditional rural town. Roscrea is a friendly welcoming place. It’s people have shown great generosity and kindness. It’s a town with an excellent community spirit. A town that has coped with a lot of setbacks and adversity.
“A town that is fighting back through it’s community and voluntary leaders and organisations. I worked closely with these groups. A lot of positive things are happening in Roscrea. Projects have been sanctioned, which will bring enterprise, jobs and stimulate the local economy.
“You, as Minister under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, have sanctioned and funded crucial revitalisation projects. It is rather ironic that while your Department is assisting with the renewal of the town, another Department of State has taken the extraordinary decision to take over the only hotel in the town.
“How can it be acceptable for a Department to be complicit in such action?”, Deputy Lowry asked.
Source :
Roscrea Protest Shows Government is on the run with immigration – Michael Lowry
Will FFFG risk bringing Lowry into their new cabinet?
John Meehan December 19 2024
Irish General Election November 29 2024 – Return of a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Coalition – Setback for the Left
It is certain the two right-wing parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (FFFG) which controlled the outgoing right-wing coalition will form the new government – their previous mudguard, the Green party, was destroyed – coming back with one seat, and losing 11. FFFG can pick new partners. They won 86 seats out of 174 seats, only two seats short of a majority.
We start with important data on the rise of racism in Ireland. Extreme racist candidates polled badly in this general election. Despite the emergence of violent racist organisations in the last 18 months – the majority of Irish citizens remain hostile to this dangerous political cancer.
These are good summaries of the overall result :
Brittle Opposition
Sinn Féin’s governmental ambitions fizzled out. The polling attrition suffered by Sinn Féin during the middle part of the year strongly influenced the nature of the campaign. With no real sense that the government parties might be ejected from power, the election was a low-energy affair, with turnout dropping below 60% for the first time in the history of the state.
Link :
Brittle Opposition, Dan Finn
Analysis: In a year when ruling parties around the world lost elections, Ireland’s outgoing coalition parties bucked that trend
At the end of a year that saw parties around the world punished by voters, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have managed to avoid the incumbents’ curse. The coalition partners’ combined first preference votes fell by just 0.4 points – to 42.7% – compared with the 2020 general election. This is a remarkable result, given the high cost of living and continuing housing crisis – all the more so for Fine Gael, which has been in government since 2011.
Sinn Féin’s popularity was the story of the 2020 general election. It emerged as the first choice of nearly a quarter of the electorate (24.5%) but failed to nominate enough candidates to capitalise on this and ended up with fewer seats than Fianna Fáil.
Biding its time in opposition, the party set to work presenting itself as a government in waiting. The polls seemed to confirm this status. The party’s popularity peaked at 36% in 2022 but this figure underwent a slow – and then rapid – decline. An unwillingness to adopt an anti-immigration position, when the issue was becoming politicised in Ireland, saw it lose support with some of its supporters.
This was confirmed in June at the local and European elections. The party’s 11.8% vote share was a very poor showing. Subsequent scandals around the party, on both sides of the border, further damaged its standing with the electorate.
Sinn Féin’s share of 19% of the first preference vote on Friday represents a partial recovery for the party. But it is, nonetheless, a steep decline (5.5 %) from their 2020 performance, leaving Sinn Féin with no realistic path to power.
Link :
Why Election 24 saw FF and FG avoid the incumbents’ curse
Unfortunately Sinn Féin was willing “to adopt an anti-immigration position” after some initial hesitation. Faced with rising racist agitation in deprived communities, the party pandered to reactionary sentiments. The main capitalist parties did the same – they discovered an issue that could be used to forward a right-wing agenda on a number of fronts. As a result, Sinn Féin lost support to its right – and to its left. The leaflet below, containing anti-immigrant messages, was used all over the state.
In the months leading up to these elections I was struck by messages from friends expressing alarm at this bad turn of events. A number of people said things like “I will not vote for Sinn Féin again”; “I would find it hard to give them a preference” and so on. I wondered if this trend was in any way representative – after all most people in my circle are further left than the general population! The general election proved these sentiments were not isolated.
Most political commentary on the general election notes setbacks suffered by scattered street-gang mini-Hitlers. Candidates like this – for example Malachy Steenson in the Dublin North Inner-City – emerged from the margins, and gained significant electoral support in the June 2024 local elections. They did not repeat their success in the November 2024 general election – they went backwards.
A more dangerous development occurred. A significant number of deputies from the ruling FFFG coalition, and Sinn Féin, promoted or dog-whistled at racist policies. At least 18 successful TD’s [Dáil Deputies] (gombeens) promote racist and misogynistic policies which have gone mainstream. These monsters are a throwback to a Catholic reactionary state that banned abortion, divorce and gay people – a state that threw women out of the workforce, that banished babies and single women to religious prisons run by the Catholic Church. Today’s far-right are disguised in the suits, ties, scarves and daily hairdos of Aontú, the Independent Ireland (II) Party, and a busload of independent TD’s begging for rewards from the new FFFG coalition : a mercs and perks brigade. Two additions to this gang in the new Dáil are Ken O’Flynn ( [II] Cork North-Central) and Gillian Toole [Independent gombeen racist] (Meath East). Others may come forward.
Nikita Hand Secures a Legal Victory over racist superstar kick-boxer Conor McGregor
During the election campaign a woman called Nikita Hand took a legal civil action, alleging rape, against an international celebrity, the kick-boxing superstar Conor McGregor. McGregor is closely associated with a number of mini-Hitler racists, some of whom were elected to Dublin council seats in June 2024. These included Philip Sutcliffe (Dublin South-Central) and Paddy Holohan (Dublin South-West). Most rape trials in Ireland are held behind closed doors, and the details are not widely broadcast.
This civil action was different : every day horrific evidence was headline news. Nikita Hand won her case.
This case damaged the mini-Hitler racist candidates –
An RTÉ News report contains the following information about Councillor Philip Sutcliffe :
In Dublin, Philip Sutcliffe, the head of Crumlin Boxing Club, was elected for the party. He boxed for Ireland at the Olympics in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984, and was elected in the Ballyfermot-Finglas LEA.
One of his most vocal supporters in the lead-up to election day was well-known publican and MMA fighter Conor McGregor. Cllr Sutcliffe has been McGregor’s boxing coach, travelling to fight camps internationally with McGregor, and featuring in social media posts.
On his Facebook page, where he posted regular updates during the campaign, Cllr Sutcliffe shared his support for Derek Blighe, a prominent right-wing nationalist anti-immigration protester and a candidate with the group ‘Ireland First’.
Mr Blighe regularly speaks about “plantations” and “unvettable fake refugees” at anti-immigration gatherings around the country. He has said the war in Ukraine is a “fake war publicised to encourage economic migrants to come to this country”.
“If you’re in this man’s area, vote [number] one for Derek,” Cllr Sutcliffe posted about Mr Blighe, who was running in the Ireland South European constituency and Fermoy Local Electoral Area against Independent Ireland candidates.
Cllr Sutcliffe also reposted video content from abroad about “refugee grooming gangs” while adding his own words: “Remember all this when voting, our government are letting the likes of their kind into Ireland.”
Cllr Sutcliffe was a first-time candidate and received 821 first preference votes, getting a seat on the 10th count.
Source : Independent Ireland party – a right-racist split from Fianna Fáil
During the campaign, as a result of the publicity over the McGregor case, the II party was forced to dump Sutcliffe, but his name still appeared on the ballot paper as an II candidate.
A sizeable protest march supporting Nikita Hand occurred after the verdict :
Paddy Holohan, McGregor’s sparring partner, polled very well in the June council elections, but did very badly in the General Election. He got 3.7% of No.1 votes, ranked 12th of 16 candidates, with no hope of a seat.
The Gerry Hutch Near-Miss in Dublin Central
A near-miss occurred in Dublin Central, the constituency of Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. Statewide Sinn Féin lost 5.5% of its vote-share compared with 2020.
In Dublin Central the drop was much higher : 12.36%. The party lost votes to its left and right. Many of those votes went to a wealthy businessman-gangster, Gerry Hutch, who advocated a sinister anti-immigrant policy.
Some discussion exists on whether Hutch was a racist candidate. He started his campaign making a few reasonable statements, but then came out with a definitive policy which left no room for doubt – Here is Hutch’s extreme racist campaign platform :
Link :
General Election November 29 2024 – Dublin Central Count
Hutch came fourth in the poll. On Saturday November 30 most election experts predicted Hutch would win a seat after seeing the first count – Hutch looked to be too far ahead of the chasing candidates below him. This news attracted a huge posse from the international media to the main Dublin election count centre on Sunday December 1. They were disappointed.
- A landslide “Vote Left, Transfer Left” grassroots heave appeared : against Hutch in favour of the nearest candidate below him, Marie Sherlock (Labour party).
The election guru Michael Marsh noted on RTÉ Radio 1 that a record had probably been set : never before, since all similar Irish elections from 1922, had so many voters transferred so heavily against one candidate.
As the counts were announced, Marsh was visibly astonished : the racists transferred heavily to Hutch : Steenson, Kelly, and Smyth of Aontú.
All other candidates (mainly on the left) transferred to each other – and overwhelmingly against Hutch :
| Counts | Hutch’s Share |
| No.5 (Votes of Daly) (Independents for Change) | 137 out of 1539 |
| No. 6 (Votes of Ó Ceannabháin) (People Before Profit) | 83 out of 2112 |
| No. 7 (Votes of Steenson [Racist]) | 1262 out of 2195 |
| No. 8 (Votes of Hourigan [Green party]) | 26 out of 2352 |
| No. 9 (Surplus of Gannon [Social Democrats]) | 18 out of 881 |
Left-wing voters transferred in huge numbers to the second elected candidate Gary Gannon (Social Democrats) and the eventual winner of the fourth seat, Marie Sherlock (Labour party). Transfers from the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil candidates went the same way.
Some may dispute this was a “Vote Left, Transfer Left” phenomenon on the grounds that FFFG votes went overwhelmingly to Sherlock in the last two counts. This is a false and stupid argument. People should grasp the fact that, in this constituency, FFFG voters preferred a Labour party candidate to a racist gangster. That is a sign of hope.
The transfer data in this constituency also shows that Green party voters chose other available left candidates ahead of Hutch, and ahead of the candidates from the two right-wing government coalition parties, FFFG. Comprehensive analysis of data like this in all 43 constituencies is awaited. That said, figures I have seen seem to show that “Vote Left, Transfer Left”, a call promoted by People Before Profit, operated in a large number of constituencies.
Irish General Election November 29 2024 – Preliminary Analyses – Focus on Dublin Central, Dirty Money, and Racism
At the time of writing it seems certain the outgoing right-wing coalition controlled by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will form the new government – their previous partners, the Green party, are likely to be wiped out. FFFG will be able to pick new partners.
We start with important data
In this post we concentrate on the issue of racism and the general election, with a particular focus on the Dublin Central constituency.
Here is a final tally displaying most of the first count
The golden rules for winning a seat in a Proportional Representation(PR) election are
- 1. Secure a winning position in the first count (In this case 4 seats available, Be in the first 4)
- 2. Secure at least half a quota
This means that McDonald (Sinn Féin), Donohoe (Fine Gael) and Gannon (Social Democrats) are very likely to win a seat each. The last seat is Gerry Hutch (wealthy businessman with a background in organised crime, a racist) Versus one of this chasing pack : Marie Sherlock (Labour party), Neasa Hourigan (Green party), Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin (People Before Profit), Clare Daly (Independents for Change). The clear leader of this pack is Marie Sherlock. The transfers of candidates below Sherlock can be examined to see if the slogan Vote left, Transfer left operates effectively, or not.
Some discussion exists on whether Hutch is a racist candidate. He started his campaign making some reasonable statements, but then came out with a definitive policy which left no room for doubt – his campaign platform is extreme racist :
Read the rest of this entry »Irish General Election November 29 2024 – Independent Candidates on the Left and Right : Stop the Far Right : Vote Left, Transfer Left
The electoral action proposed here is :
How To Vote on November 29? Oppose Any Coalition with FFFGGG – Stop the Far Right : Vote Left, Transfer Left
FFFGGG Equals ; Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Greens, Gombeens.
The 2020-2024 coalition government was composed of three parties : FF, FG, and the Greens – and was regularly supported by Right-to-Racist Gombeens (Independents) in the last Dáil.
In this context it is important to know the identity of left-wing and right-wing independent candidates.
A Cedar Lounge Blog writer has done a great job identifying credible candidates on the left who are often categorised as independent. Link :
Possible Left Independents in the next Dáil
Here is the excellent article :
As noted in comments here a number of left Independents of one stripe or another are running, either to hold their seats or to return to the Dáil. Irish Election Literature has material from a huge number of candidates here on a special page on the 2024 election and it’s an essential read to get a sense of matters. One thing that was perhaps under considered in 2020 was the winnowing of left Independents (or those who were with small groups). It really took the wind out of the left side of the Independent equation with barely a handful left and some who barely were left at all (who left for Europe at the last election).
Here’s a selection of possible Left Independents. What of others who are potential, possible or likely to arrive in the Dáil?
Read the rest of this entry »
The Media Bogeyman – by Brendan Ogle
Source :
The Media ‘Bogeyman’
Engaging with hostile media goes with the territory
Firstly I am qualified to write on this topic. I did my first national media interview in 1996, a full 28 years ago. Since then there is barely a national or local media outlet that I haven’t engaged with. Most of those engagements over all of those years have been hostile. I was generally pushing an industrial or campaigning issue to a media which has a single opposing ideological focus and a narrow ownership that dictates control and editorial output and attitude. As a result I have been pilloried, defamed, targeted and abused. I’ve been ‘Public Enemy Number One’, ‘Mister Misery’, I’ve had national newspapers’ doctor photographs of me to make me look as evil as possible and I’ve had so many agendas laid at my door that I’d need to build a lengthy driveway to accommodate them all.
Yet in that 28 years I have never hidden from my responsibility to engage on behalf of whatever cause I was advocating at the time. It goes with the territory. So I understand more than most how the Irish media treat those who refuse to bend a knee to it. I’m ‘qualified’ to write this from years of raw and difficult experience in the field.
Legitimate claims or agenda-driven hyperbole?
So when, last Saturday, the media were yet again held up as the big bad bogeyman doing down the decent people I can assess the legitimacy of those claims or whether it is simply agenda driven hyperbole. The claims on that day were entirely unconnected on fact but very connected in attitude and intent. The first claimant that particular day (and it’s just one day of these constant claims) was from the Father of Cathal Crotty blaming the media for his Son’s troubles. The second was by a left wing blog blaming the media bogeyman for Clare Daly losing her European Parliament seat. These claims are so ridiculously baseless that they would be funny, and in ways they are, if they were not seeking to perpetuate dangerous agenda’s, one of misogyny and gender violence, the other of political pandering to dangerous populism. Whether the abuse is justifying a thug using his military training to beat a defenceless young woman or excusing a woman Politician not being able to defend her awful voting record on behalf of her electors the agenda is clear – blame the ‘media bogeyman’ as a deflection from basic undeniable reality. In other words create fake news and alternate facts to obscure reality.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 