Article Category: Last Refuge

ROBERT WATT’S PERFORMANCE

May 4, 2023

Much has been made of the demeanour of Robert Watt, secretary general of the Department of Health, with many Government TDs joining their... Read more »

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SOC DEMS TO ECLIPSE LABOUR?

May 3, 2023

THE ONLY constituency in the state to house both a Labour and a Social Democrats TD is Dublin Bay North (DBN) with Aodhán... Read more »

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OLD ARMIES AND NEW

May 3, 2023

THE WAR of words between the official National Army and the Respect and Loyalty to the Forgotten (RLF), a group of retired army... Read more »

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FARMERS IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

May 3, 2023

ROSCOMMON-GALWAY TD Michael Fitzmaurice got a predictable reaction from Green Party representatives when he mooted his new farmers’ party. Junior agriculture minister and... Read more »

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BERTIE’S OBSTACLE TO THE ÁRAS

April 19, 2023

ANYBODY WHO presumed that Bertie Ahern would shy away from a bid to run for the presidency in 2025 because of the adverse... Read more »

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IS SHANNON NEUTRAL GROUND?

April 19, 2023

In two recent Morning Ireland interviews, Áine Lawlor has interrogated the details of Sinn Féin’s commitment to neutrality, a sensitive issue given the... Read more »

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NO COUNCIL HOUSES – NO COUNCIL DEBATE

April 19, 2023
DAYS BEFORE Sinn Féin’s Dáil motion on ending the eviction ban and a fortnight before the ban was due to expire, Tánaiste Micheál Martin... Read more »

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HOUSING FOR ALL… ELSEWHERE

April 19, 2023

FIANNA FÁIL insiders raised an eyebrow last week at an Irish Independent report that housing minister Darragh O’Brien continues to send constituents with... Read more »

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NEUTRALITY: THE FINAL PUSH

April 6, 2023

THE GOVERNMENT has finally decided to launch a ground offensive against neutrality with a series of discussions or “forums” on the issue later... Read more »

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FREE FRANCE!

April 6, 2023

FORMER BRITISH Labour MP, now Baroness Kate Hoey (courtesy of then UK prime minister Boris Johnson in 2020) has enraged even those who... Read more »

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POLLS SPELL DISASTER FOR FF

April 6, 2023

ONCE AGAIN, the media fixation on the latest poll is on how Sinn Féin compares with both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. But... Read more »

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BERTIE TO FIX IT FOR SF/FF COALITION?

April 6, 2023

WHAT SCHEMING object has the most cunning one in mind when he tells Fianna Fáil and its leader, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, that he... Read more »

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PRESIDENT BIDEN CONGRATS IRELAND

March 23, 2023

AS TÁNAISTE and foreign minister Micheál Martin embarked on his trip to the US for the annual St Patrick’s Day performance, his press... Read more »

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‘SERIOUSLY GOOD BIT OF STUFF’

March 23, 2023

Unnoticed by the Irish media – ie her former colleagues – European ombudsman Emily O’Reilly pulled off the rare feat last week of... Read more »

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O’REILLY V HOURIGAN

March 22, 2023

THE GREEN Party chairperson and ultra-loyal lieutenant of Eamon Ryan, senator Pauline O’Reilly, is gunning for Neasa Hourigan TD as the latter contributed... Read more »

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SOC DEMS LEADER TO LOSE SEAT?

March 8, 2023

THE BIG bounce that new Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns gave the party – up five points to 9% – says something about... Read more »

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GREEN PARTY DROPS TRIPLE LOCK

March 8, 2023

THE FIANNA FÁIL leader and Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, will be pleased with Cabinet colleague Eamon Ryan, who recently persuaded his now-domesticated Green Party... Read more »

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MICHEÁL MARTIN’S NUCLEAR RECORD

March 8, 2023

THE 2023 Conference on Disarmament in Geneva last month heard Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin denounce Russia for its recent pronouncements... Read more »

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SINN FÉIN FLEES TO CENTRE

March 8, 2023

A RECENT statement by left-wing TDs and senators, excluding Sinn Féin, in the Irish Times made the ever so provocative suggestion that Ireland... Read more »

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FINE GAEL CROSSES THE BORDER

February 22, 2023

FINE GAEL’S move to set up its own organizational structures north of the border says as much about Fianna Fáil’s wavering commitment to... Read more »

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BERTIE’S GOOD OL’ BOYS

February 22, 2023

DOWN IN the constituency organisation of Fianna Fáil in Dublin Central (DC), one person who will have gritted her teeth while affecting to... Read more »

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VARADKAR TAILS FAR RIGHT

February 22, 2023

THE LATEST party political poll – from the Sunday Times/Behaviour and Attitudes (B&A) – shows again the almost secret war raging between Fianna... Read more »

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WHO WILL WIN EXTRA DUBLIN DÁIL SEATS?

February 22, 2023

WITH ANYTHING from 11 to 21 extra seats likely to emerge from the impending constituency revisions to be brought in by the Electoral... Read more »

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GREENS DIVIDE ON NEUTRALITY

February 9, 2023

THE ONGOING mystery continues surrounding the Green Party’s policy on defence, security and neutrality – for long the most sacred of Green principles... Read more »

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BRENDAN GRIFFIN’S EXIT

February 9, 2023

LEO VARADKAR may only have himself to blame for the departure from Fine Gael at the next election of the party’s only TD... Read more »

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EXPENSIVE TDs’ EXPENSES

February 9, 2023

THE HASTE with which Government parties and a concerned media seized on Sinn Féin’s election expenses errors to bury the saga of Paschal... Read more »

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‘IRISH TIMES’ V IVANA

February 9, 2023

LABOUR LEADER Ivana Bacik has been getting out and about recently, mainly in the media, in an effort to drag her party back... Read more »

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PUSSY CAT BARRY COWEN

January 26, 2023

MEDIA SURPRISE at the new model Barry Cowen’s merciful attitude to beleaguered Blueshirt minister Paschal Donohoe – normally a legitimate target in Cowen’s... Read more »

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GENERAL ELECTION TIMING

January 26, 2023

LEO VARADKAR’S stated preference for a general election to be held in the autumn of 2024 has not gone down well inside Fianna... Read more »

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VARADKAR’S SECOND COMING

January 26, 2023

LAST WEEKEND’S Behaviour and Attitudes/Sunday Times (B&A/ST) poll, showing Fianna Fáil six points ahead of Fine Gael (25-19), reflects the difference between B&A/ST... Read more »

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MARIA BAILEY COMEBACK?

January 26, 2023

FORMER FINE GAEL TD Maria Bailey paid off a few scores in Simon Carswell’s Irish Times piece at the weekend, with Taoiseach Leo... Read more »

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A TAOISEACH ONCE AGAIN

January 12, 2023

ONE PRESUMES that former taoiseach, now Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, was not entirely gulled by the remarks of Leo Varadkar, then his second-in-command, to... Read more »

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ARISE LAZARUS O’DONNELL

January 12, 2023

THE PROMOTION of long-time Fine Gael backbench TD Kieran O’Donnell to the post of junior minister for local government and planning was described... Read more »

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BRENDAN GRIFFIN’S AMBITIONS

January 12, 2023

FINE GAEL TD and former junior sports minister Brendan Griffin walked off the pitch in what looked like a sulk as he was... Read more »

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MARTIN’S PAYROLL VOTE CAPPED

January 12, 2023

THE WEEKS leading up to the most uneventful ministerial reshuffle in memory saw repeated references to a possible expansion of junior ministers by... Read more »

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VARADKAR AT RISK FROM COVENEY FANS?

December 15, 2022

A STATE of fear and paralysis descended on Fine Gael members, especially at senior level, as that video of incoming Taoiseach Leo Varadkar... Read more »

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