Sat, 26 May 2007
Well, the people have spoken, now the airwaves are full of puzzled politicans and pundits trying to decide what they said.
The outcome was a suprise, especially in Galway West (where I live), for which I'm annoyed; as I said before, a poll would have been useful. Niall O'Brolcháin, said in the last poll in March to be likely to take a seat, came fairly off the mark, unfortunately.
Quick summary: The Irish Parliament (the Dáil) has 166 seats, so the majority is 83 (I seat goes to the Chair or Ceann Comhairle). In recent years, majorities of one or two seats are normal, so we all wait for the final seats to be decided before really knowing the outcome: The Bookmakers paid out for Bertie Ahern being the next Taoiseach by 9.30 AM yesterday, though technically the numbers could still add up for the alternative, Enda Kenny. We might not know until next week.
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Tue, 22 May 2007
Has anyone seen a recent poll for Galway West? (In the Irish General Election, that is). The last poll was March 26th, which is way out-of-date : long prior to the election being called, before the Cryptosporidium Crisis, etc.
The result is, I'm in the unusual position of having to make a decision. Ordinarily I'd vote Number 1 for Niall O'Brolcháin (Green) and 2. Micheal D. Higgins (Labour). Ireland uses the unusual Single Transferable Vote system, with multi-member constituencies. Galway West is a 5-seat constituency, and Micheal D. is a long-sitting TD, who most would have expected to be automatically returned. Niall O'Brolcháin is fairly new; he's a member of the City Council and current Mayor of Galway (thats a relatively powerless post in the Irish local council scheme of things, though). Unfortunately news from the Labour camp appears that too many people assume he will be automatically returned; the word they are getting on the street is "Yes, you'll be getting my no.2 ". But in the STV system, this could mean he wouldn't be in the running. Those votes for the Greens and others will perhaps stay with the Greens and won't transfer to him.
So the choice, Vote 1. Greens, which is my natural preference, or 1. Labour, in the hope of getting both Micheal D. and Niall elected? a poll of the current situation would help.
BTW, for voting geeks, following the link and reading about STV is worth it. It makes Irish election counts the most fun election counts in the World. One of the main arguments against electronic voting in Ireland has been that it would take all the fun out of the count, which would be over too soon ...
Well, theres a General Election here in Ireland on the 24 May, and the politicans are well and truly on the last lap of the campaign trail. We're a bit rural to see them all, for those who don't make it to the door, here's something to think about.
In Moycullen we are on the edge of the Gaeltacht. Various institutions, such as the main primary school, have been struggling to retain that status with the encroachment of the Béarla 'burbs (suburbs of the Gaeltacht where English dominates).
Our children go to Baile Nua, the villages' gaelscoil. To hold standards, the school has a policy of capping its current enrollment (to 84, I think), to keep class sizes small, until the potential intake is large enough to justify another teacher. Fair enough.
However this has the side-effect that, in an area supposedly set aside to protect the Irish language, students are necessarily turned away from the only Irish-language school in the Village. Any comments?
Tue, 27 Feb 2007
Has Banksy paid a visit to the hallowed walls and underpasses of NUIG in Galway?