Article Category: Last Refuge

KATE NEGOTIATES ELECTORAL RETURN

October 3, 2024

THE ASCENSION of Simon Harris to the Taoiseach’s job and leader of Fine Gael was supposed to mean that one of his most... Read more »

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VARADKAR OUT TO EMBARRASS MARTIN

October 3, 2024

FORMER TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar’s call for all political parties to declare during the general election that a united Ireland is an “objective, not... Read more »

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MARY LOU’S BACK YARD

October 3, 2024

IF MARY Lou McDonald’s presidential speech sounded a bit flat, it is because she had to search hard-to-find, dramatic attack points against the... Read more »

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ENRIGHT QUELLS KERRY REVOLT

October 3, 2024

GOLDHAWK WROTE last August how Fine Gael members in Kerry and in Dublin HQ were in disarray over how to replace former minister... Read more »

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BIG PHIL’S GENDER-BENDER LAW

September 19, 2024

BIG PHIL HOGAN’S return to the centre of Fine Gael, via its internal election committee, is not without irony as well as a... Read more »

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JENNIFER BENDS THE KNEE TO MARTIN

September 19, 2024

TÁNAISTE AND defence minister Micheál Martin has torn off the epaulettes and snapped the sword of Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, his junior officer or... Read more »

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HARRIS TO WIPE OUT FF IN WICKLOW?

September 19, 2024

INTERNAL CONVULSIONS in Wicklow Fine Gael, involving competition between two contenders for a place on the general election ticket with Taoiseach Simon Harris... Read more »

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WEAPONISING IRISH

September 19, 2024

THE DUP has once again raised the charge that Sinn Féin is “weaponising” the Irish language, as Belfast City Council issues a draft... Read more »

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GENDER TRAP FOR CONOR LENIHAN

September 5, 2024

ONE OF the first but definitely not the last tale of woe from a disappointed general election hopeful who faces rejection because of... Read more »

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SF REP RESIGNS OVER TRANS POLICY

September 5, 2024

THE RESIGNATION of Sinn Féin’s long-standing Laois councillor, Aidan Mullins, has raised questions as the party wrestles with various policy issues and just... Read more »

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CRUCIAL WEEKS FOR SINN FÉIN

September 5, 2024

These are crucial weeks for Sinn Féin (SF), as its revival in the polls remains partial and its future, pre-election polling trend is... Read more »

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LABOUR FACING VIRTUAL WIPE-OUT

September 5, 2024

POLLING ANALYSIS tends to focus on which of the bigger parties will be in government post-election but mournful commentary from the Irish Times... Read more »

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FEMALE FINANCE PROBLEM FOR HARRIS

August 22, 2024

TAOISEACH SIMON Harris has a serious political, financial and feminist problem on his hands with Cork City and County Fine Gael (FG) proving... Read more »

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IRELAND’S MALI ADVENTURE

August 22, 2024

THE TRUTH behind media reports of a Mali-Islamic motive for the knifing of Fr Murphy in Galway will have to wait for the... Read more »

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DARYL BARRON’S COMMUNITY WORK

August 22, 2024

COOLOCK SAYS NO campaigners appear to have split several ways following their alliance with British fascists and loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast, with various... Read more »

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DEFENCE MINISTER DEFENCELESS

August 22, 2024

THE NEWLY appointed junior minister for European affairs and defence, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, has been putting herself about in the media since her... Read more »

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CAN MARY LOU BOUNCE BACK?

August 8, 2024

PUBLICATION LAST week of the revised housing policy of Sinn Féin (SF) – originally scheduled for next month – is part of a... Read more »

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BUTTIMER V MULLINS AND COVENEY

August 8, 2024

RUCTIONS AT Fine Gael’s Cork South-Central general election convention have only increased since the meeting a fortnight ago, which saw members react angrily... Read more »

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IVEAGH HOUSE OLD-BOY DIPLOMACY

August 8, 2024

GOOD TO see the Irish Times maintain the high diplomatic style for which the paper of record is famous, with former Irish ambassador... Read more »

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FF/FG CIVIL WAR IN KERRY

August 8, 2024

THE DELIGHT of handlers in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil at the transfer pattern in the local elections has led to mutual and... Read more »

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CARROLL MACNEILL SOUNDS OFF

July 25, 2024

AN INTERESTING double act was that recently performed by the new junior minister for EU affairs and defence, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and Sunday... Read more »

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JIM O’CALLAGHAN’S NEXT GIG

July 25, 2024

WHAT SOOTHING words emanated from Micheál Martin’s managers to media pol corrs about the party leader’s motivation in making TD Jim O’Callaghan chair... Read more »

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RIGHT ON!

July 25, 2024

THAT MOST reasonable figurehead in the new right, Hermann Kelly, leader of the Irish Freedom Party (IFP), made a most mature, statesmanlike appeal... Read more »

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RYAN’S POLITICAL DAUGHTERS

July 25, 2024

GREEN ACTIVISTS could tell there was a crisis in leadership circles when outgoing leader, Eamon Ryan declared that he was openly backing his... Read more »

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STARMER: UNIONIST OR CIVIL RIGHTS CHAMPION

July 11, 2024

BRITAIN’S NEW prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer (don’t forget the Sir), has made his first visit to the north since taking over in... Read more »

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MICHAEL COLLINS TO REPLACE GREENS

July 11, 2024

AS THE Greens go down in the polls and their ability to play a coalition role looks increasingly doubtful, there is quiet satisfaction... Read more »

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TIME NOT ON MARY LOU’S SIDE

July 11, 2024

Despite government insistence that it intends to run its full term and that there will be no general election this year, there is... Read more »

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NEW SPECTRE HAUNTS MACRON

July 11, 2024

There was a widespread sigh of relief in European Union circles at the astonishing news that the expected far-right dominance in the French... Read more »

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GREEN ENTITLEMENT

June 27, 2024

GREEN SENATOR Pippa Hackett and her co-conspirators – senators Pauline O’Reilly (party chair) and Róisín Garvey – will likely be seen off by... Read more »

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TIMMY DOOLEY’S DELIGHT

June 27, 2024

IT’S REFRESHING in these times of political hand-to-hand fighting and abuse of – and between – politicians to note the fraternal expression of... Read more »

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DUBLIN DANGER FOR FIANNA FÁIL

June 27, 2024

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S appointment of Jack Chambers as finance minister and also as deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, a post that had been vacant... Read more »

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GARDA BUGGERS

June 27, 2024

TD RICHARD Boyd Barrett hauled justice minister Helen McEntee over the coals in the Dáil last week regarding Garda surveillance of the survivors... Read more »

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SF: BEHAVE AS IF IN GOVERNMENT

June 13, 2024

SINN FÉIN is staring at an electoral abyss and the potential loss of a republican generation that could have provided a radical political... Read more »

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KATE O’CONNELL’S CHOICES

June 13, 2024

KATE O’CONNELL is currently weighing up her prospects as a Dáil candidate in at least two constituencies after local and European campaigns in... Read more »

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FAMILY FORTUNES

June 13, 2024

THAT EMBARRASSING tale of Louth Fine Gael candidate Marian Dwyer-Agrios withdrawing from the local elections because she had received €30,000 go-away money-cum-works-on-her-house from... Read more »

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LEFT SOLIDARITY WITH CLARE DALY

May 30, 2024

PEOPLE BEFORE Profit TD Bríd Smith has become a lightning rod for those on the left – Clare Daly supporters in particular –... Read more »

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