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The first thing that any new British Prime Minister has to do, upon taking office, is to pen “the letter of last resort”. We have no idea what’s in it, but we know what it is: Instructions given, in a sealed envelope, to the commanders of Her Majesty’s nuclear submarines, only to be opened in […]
Éamon Ó Cuiv here, with, you’d have to say, a compelling argument: Éamon Ó Cuív says Fianna Fáil needs a change of leader. So it begins. — Hugh O'Connell (@oconnellhugh) September 15, 2020 And DCU boffin Eoin O’Malley here, with a slightly more compelling argument: This is why Micheál Martin is safe… pic.twitter.com/GVSpuujTNM — Eoin […]
Extraordinary: A poll released today has seen support for Fianna Fáil slump to just 10%. Fine Gael remains the most popular party in the country on 35%, this is up from 21% they received in this year’s General Election. Support for Sinn Féin has remained more or less static at 27%. However, the Red C […]
Credit to Hugh O’Connell in the Independent for this scoop, though some readers may have missed it since it is near the end of his report: The Nphet advice was given to the Government last Thursday and included new guidelines for pubs to follow when they reopen. This includes a ban on any live music […]
To lose one agriculture minister might be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two, the IFA might have said to the Taoiseach last night, is just rank carelessness: Cullinan said: “We are very concerned about the disruption caused by the loss of two Ministers for Agriculture since the new government was formed, and reports that […]
Confession: I cannot figure out for the life of me what readers will make of this. On the one hand, it’s one in the eye for west brit lackeys like me, and presumably the membership of Fine Gael, who’s favourite part of the year is when “Rule Britannia” comes on at the end of the […]
It is important, generally, to try and not get personal when it comes to the people who govern us. For the most part, they are doing their best. Being wrong, as they regularly are is a human fault, not one that is specific to one party, or one person. Politicians want to be remembered well, […]
They should really have extended this invitation to the Taoiseach, too, since he’s the one who made the decision: Following this evening’s unexpected announcement the GAA invites Dr Ronan Glynn and NPHET to present the empirical evidence which informed the requirement for the Association to curtail its activities. The Association will tonight be issuing an […]
Former leader of the SDLP, John Hume, has died, his family have announced in a statement. He was 83 years old, and passed away after a short illness. He had lived with dementia for several years and was rarely seen in public in recent years. Hume led the SDLP from 1979 to 2001, and won […]
Summer 2020 is another kind of new normal. There’s a strange feel to it like all the other resets since March 12th when the country went into indefinite lockdown. This is arguably one of the better parts of new normal The little fishing village of Ballycotton with its signature island and lighthouse has been on […]
In the last few days we learned that the Department of Social Protection has been busy tracking down people who have had the temerity to take a holiday while in receipt of Covid-19 welfare support – and punishing them by cutting off that payment. 104 people have had their Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) stopped “as […]
What’s the world coming to when you can’t trust a politician to cut their own salary without actually increasing it by accident? Clarified this evening: voluntary pay cuts taken by the previous Govts lapsed when new Govt was formed, so today's 10% is effectively a renewal of those cuts. e.g. Taoiseach's salary €207,590; Varadkar had […]
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