Tag Archives: politics

FIANNA Fáil was among Europe’s most consistently successful political parties until its bubble burst rather spectacularly and the 71 Dáil seats it held going into the 2011 General Election were just 20 afterwards. While it can now be said, with some certainty, the party won’t disappear from the political landscape, it also looks very unlikely that it will hit the heights of the Bertie era for some years. One of its major problems is that huge swathes of voters who would have regularly opted for Fianna Fáil, now see it as being the natural home of self-interested chancers. While he doesn’t claim the Soldiers of Destiny were blameless in the crash, Eoin Neylon, who was abroad for three years himself due to the economic crisis, claims Fianna Fáil has turned a corner and is poised to be a different type of organisation in the future. Presidency After 10 years of activism, Eoin is running for the presidency of Ógra Fianna …

THIS year, for the first time since the 1970s, Sinn Féin won a seat on Clare County Council [Mike McKee in the Shannon Municipal District]. In West Clare, Noeleen Moran won 1,023 number one votes, not enough to get her over the line but, certainly, an excellent performance. Local politics is hardly brimming with young women. She said voters told her they were glad to see someone with her background standing. “The vote that we received, it was probably better than we expected but the feedback we got was that it wasn’t just a vote for Sinn Féin, it was also a vote for the fact that I was a woman and a younger politician.” After finishing school in Lisdoonvarna, she went on to study Public and Social Policy and International Law and Human Rights. Unlike many of her generation, including her own siblings, she found work in Ireland. “I finished college last year and I worked in Boston Scientific …

BROAD power sharing of positions of responsibility on Clare County Council between the various political groupings will almost certainly continue over the next five years, although a final agreement has yet to be reached. Talks on how positions, including those of mayor and deputy mayor, are to be allocated began on Tuesday of last week and were continuing on Wednesday evening, with another meeting slated for Thursday morning. It is hoped an agreement will have been reached by the time the new council holds its first meeting this Friday afternoon. Following the local elections, Fianna Fáil has 12 seats, Fine Gael eight, Independents seven and Sinn Féin one. For the purposes of the negotiations, two representatives from Fine Gael, two from Fianna Fáil and two representing Independents/Sinn Féin are in discussions. Wednesday was the ninth time they met. It is understood one of the main stumbling blocks is due to Fine Gael and Independents/Sinn Féin having the same amount of …

WHILE he was one of the most high profile and outspoken critics of Eamon Gilmore, Clare Labour TD Michael McNamara has no interest in seeking the job now that a new leader is required. Earlier this afternoon, around an hour before it emerged that Gilmore would fall in his sword, Mr McNamara said he wouldn’t be looking for a promotion;  “No, I don’t have the experience. Not that I think experience is everything, but I’d simply have no interest.” He didn’t offer a view on who should take over, but he said it’s time for a younger leader. “I think there has to be a generational change in the Labour party, which I indicated yesterday and it remains my position today.” Owen Ryan

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has launched a scathing attack on his party’s front bench saying that  all but one of them need to go as soon as possible. While the rivalry between Eamon Gilmore and Joan Burton has been simmering for at least three years now, he feels that neither of them should hold the leadership of the party. Speaking to The Champion tonight, he said that it’s time for a huge clear out. “If we remain in Government I think there’s a case to be made for Brendan Howlin given his portfolio but for the rest, everyone’s time comes, mine will come too.” He says that Labour must heed the election results and not dismiss them as part of a normal electoral cycle. “We have to listen to the people and it’s not just a mid term thing, there’s a lot of disillusionment about promises that were broken. ” While he acknowledged that Labour would probably have suffered from …

By Peter O’Connell EIGHTY-TWO-year-old Kilkee man, JJ Barry, is hoping to vote for the first time in Ireland on May 23. An emigrant in England for 63 years, JJ returned to his native town two years ago. A man with a keen interest in politics, JJ voted Labour when in England but has yet to receive confirmation that he can vote in the upcoming local and European elections. “I’ve been trying to get a voting card for the last two years. I haven’t got it yet. I don’t know whether I’m voting or not in this election. They don’t send you anything. I’ve never got a letter to say I was registered or anything,” a rather frustrated JJ told The Clare Champion. “I want to vote now because I don’t know how many years I have left. I always wanted to have a vote but, in my time, there was no voting in Ireland until you were 21. I was …

THREE of Ennis’ longest-serving public representatives will not be contesting this May’s local elections. Councillors Tommy Brennan, Peter Considine and Mary Coote Ryan are retiring from politics. Independent Councillor Brennan, a member of Ennis Town Council for 35 years and Clare County Council for 29 years, said he made the decision to bow out as a result of changes to local government. “Our function as councillors has been taken away and it’s pointless. It has completely changed. It started in about 2001 with Better Local Government and then the recent changes by Minister Hogan. It leaves the council with no function whatsoever,” he stated. He said the decision not to stand was not made lightly, particularly given the high level of support from the public over the years. “The people of Ennis have given me great support over the last 30 years and I thank them for that. I look forward to retiring and, if I can be of any …

By Owen Ryan THE only sitting female county councillor in Clare has announced she will not be running in May’s local elections. Councillor Patricia McCarthy has been a fixture on Clare County Council for 35 years and has been on the soon-to-be-scrapped Shannon Town Council since it was founded in 1982. On Wednesday she announced she won’t be running again and speaking to The Clare Champion she said that when she retained her seats in 2007, she suspected it would be her last time her name would appear on a ballot paper. “It’s been on my mind. After the last election I had indicated to my campaign team that I was standing them down, that I most likely wouldn’t contest the next election.” She left it late to make an announcement in case she had a rethink. “I suppose I had my mind made up but I was just making sure that I wasn’t going to change it, I was …