Category: Irish Politics
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Meath crash
So according to the Pat Kenny show this morning it could take as little as 48 million euros to buy an entirely new and dedicated school bus fleet. This sounds like money well spent especially given the 57 million that the Minister for Incompetency Martin Cullen spent on e-voting that we could end up (hopefully)…
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IRA link to Cork hostage ordeal
A close eye might need to be kept on this: Three men are being questioned this evening after a businessman and his family were held hostage overnight in an incident being connected to the IRA. Officers believe a gang was trying to extort money from Gary O’Donovan, the owner of a major chain of off-licences…
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Sunday bits
Cork County Council deserves high praise for their decision to buy and restore Blackrock Castle in Cork harbour. The most amazing aspect of the project is the installation of a high-tech robotic observatory. It will feature two high-power telescopes, optical and radio. It will also include a fully equipped operations room that will be linked…
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Data retention slips into law
Karlin wrote a great piece on data retention legislation in last Friday’s Irish Times. The best part of the article was the final paragraph. And so here we are, the best little banana-republic style state in the EU, sneaking in the laws we don’t want the citizens to see, willing to risk the State’s future…
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Data retention imposed
This one slipped under the radar, though the Examiner did report on it last week. This has been Karlin’s baby since it started, and she copies her story in the Irish Times to her blog. The full piece of legislation can be read here.(PDF) Hands up who thinks sweeping data retention such as this is…
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Irish terror groups 'to hit London'
The Observer leads today with this story. Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism section sent out an email about a new threat to businesses across London on Friday evening, following intelligence received from MI5 about an increase in activity from breakaway groups such as the Real IRA. The chilling note, seen by The Observer, states: ‘Reporting indicates that…
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Inept 'authorities'
The following statement was taken from the Competition Authority’s website. When does the Competition Authority take action? Anti-competitive behaviour occurs when firms agree to fix prices, limit output, divide business between them or abuse their market power, with no benefits to consumers. In these situations the Competition Authority will use its enforcement powers to act…
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Nationalists want IRA to disband now
Interesting stuff on Newsnight tonight…In a new poll six out of ten nationalists – including almost half of Sinn Fein voters – believe the IRA should disband now, and almost half were dissatisfied with Sinn Fein’s reaction to the Robert McCartney killing. Word also has it, from my own sources, that some prominent members of…
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Irish political 'blogs'
The Freedom Institute helpfully links to some sites the major parties have put up for their candidates, hastily it seems. I don’t want to seem like I am trying to discourage new bloggers, or even political ones, but for god’s sake, if you are going to get on the bandwagon at least make a half-assed…
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Garda corruption or negligence?
Mary is a single mother. She has ME and suffers from chronic pain. She gets €20 per week from the State. She has a young teenage son who she describes as having the mind of a five year old. He suffers from depression, drinks a lot, does drugs and is generally messed up. He’s in…