Tag Archives: Oireachtas

Letter to Madam on quotas

Madam, I await with eager anticipation the amendment to the new quota system for candidate selection that imposes a limit on family members of politicians being candidates in elections. There is a significant under representation in the candidate line up … Continue reading

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Quotas for Votas

Even the best of us can fall victim to a piece of boneheaded conventional wisdom from time to time, and the suggestion that political parties must run 30% women candidates in a general election is one of those ideas that … Continue reading

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Saving the Seanad, not bloody likely

Once again the nation was treated this week to the sights and sounds of the returning Seanad. Not that most of the population had noticed that it had been away. Various people, most of them senators of long standing, used … Continue reading

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The electoral disaster that is the NUI register

2007 NUI Seanad candidate Daniel Sullivan has called for an investigation by the Minister for the Environment into the running of the election of the Seanad for the 3rd level seats. The NUI is evidently completely overtaxed with this responsibility … Continue reading

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Announcement of candidacy for NUI Seanad

I am running once more for Seanad Éireann on the NUI panel, this post will tell you a bit about me and why I’m running*. I’m an unmarried** 43 year old engineer. I’m a practical person who believes that politics matters most when … Continue reading

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A gender kink in political reform proposals

There is a recurring desire expressed to see more sittings of the Oireachtas moving to 4 days or even 5 days in part as a means to facilitate more family hours so that there would be less late sittings. However, this creates … Continue reading

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Alternatives to lists and quotas to reduce clientelism and offer the electorate more diverse voting options

Image via Wikipedia Long form version of a post I have over on Political Reform. Discussion about political change, and in particular where electoral reform is concerned, tends to start by identifying a problem by examining its symptoms and then … Continue reading

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The Healy Raes are from Kilgarvan, not Killorglin.

Image via Wikipedia Image by Shiny Things via Flickr Killorglin is a goat worshipping merchant town, Kilgarvan is the home of the Healy Raes. Kilgarvan consists of the local pub, garage, shop post office and plant hire business all owned … Continue reading

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FF’s strategy for salvation

Image via Wikipedia For a good while now, I’ve thought that FF would use the next budget as a platform for the election. They would fight the election campaign on the basis of the detail of the budget and force … Continue reading

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Does Ivor Callely own any property at all?

Yesterday Sen Callely said in respect of the property in West Cork that he was claiming allowances and mileage from that “I have a right to reside in west Cork but it’s not in my ownership.” This was in response … Continue reading

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