Tag Archives: politics

Decency is only for decent people

Posted on February 22, 2023 by dsullivan

Sir, Your columnist Una Mullaly’s piece on why we should be concerned about abuse driving people from public life has a peculiar qualification. That “Politicians themselves can only expect decency when they are decent” begs the question of who gets … Continue reading →

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Letter to Madam on quotas

Posted on June 1, 2011 by dsullivan

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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Announcement of candidacy for NUI Seanad

Posted on March 6, 2011 by dsullivan

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 →

Posted in GE11, nui seanad 2011, nuim, Seanad, seanad eireann, seanad reform | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The lunacy of an agreed FG/Lab program for government

Posted on February 2, 2011 by dsullivan

It has come up repeatedly in press commentary over the last few weeks and was a feature  again last night on Vincent Browne that FG and Labour should published an agreed program for government before the election takes place. We know that … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, GE11 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on December 30, 2010 by dsullivan

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 →

Posted in 2010, Seanad, seanad eireann, seanad reform | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why not have a FG Lab budget before the election?

Posted on November 24, 2010 by dsullivan

Image via Wikipedia Why is the government persisting with this idea that it has to be their budget or nothing? Why don’t FF and the Greens announce they are delaying the vote on the Budget by 2 weeks, allow FG and … Continue reading →

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The next election is too good to waste

Posted on November 22, 2010 by dsullivan

Image via Wikipedia I’m going to take issue with Jason’s reasons for his view that the next election is too good to waste on Fine Gael but then I’m going to end up agreeing with him for quite different reasons. … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Voting – what’s with all the secrecy?

Posted on November 21, 2010 by dsullivan

Image by Amadeus Varadi Hellequin via Flickr When tens of thousands of citizens from the elderly to public sector workers march in protest against government policies that they had voted for, alongside colleagues who did not, is it time to … Continue reading →

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How might you run an election over Christmas?

Posted on July 19, 2010 by dsullivan

The date of  budget 2010 was Dec 9th 2009 which would imply that budget day 2011 is scheduled for Dec 8th 2010, if the governmwent were to fall on the budget vote we would have an election campaign taking place … Continue reading →

Posted in elections | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A new political party

Posted on July 7, 2010 by dsullivan

Another in a series of letters to the IT, in part this was a contributory reason for starting the polly blog in the first place. Madam, – This recent talk of a new political party is all very interesting until … Continue reading →

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