IrishCentral Labour - b5cc3275d518416eacb61d676e8d84d1

TD claims One Direction heartthrob Niall Horan a Labour Party supporter (IrishCentral)

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 05:04:25 PDT

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

An Irish government politician has claimed One Direction star Niall Horan as a Labor Party supporter.

Gerry Adams calls on Labour Party to step down from government to stand by working people (IrishCentral)

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:20:20 PDT

By: PADDY CLANCY

Eve after her death Margaret Thatcher figured at the Sinn Fein annual conference last weekend when a new addition to merchandise on sale were green-colored Thatcher t-shirts. Daubed across them were the words, in Irish: “I still hate Margaret Thatcher.”

Helen McEntee retains her late dad’s seat for Fine Gael as Labour vote collapses (IrishCentral)

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 04:23:15 PDT

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore may face a threat to his position after the Meath East by-election which saw Helen McEntee win her late father Shane’s seat.

Irish Aid blown on swimming pool pumps and flagpoles — latest scandal rocks official government development programme (IrishCentral)

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:31:07 PST

Irish Aid to UgandaSwimming pool maintenance, chauffeur uniforms, gourmet wine, and a flagpole that cost almost $1,800 were just some of the items squandered by foreign governments receiving Irish Aid last year, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by a major Irish newspaper has revealedAmong some of the most controversial items discovered in the newspaper’s request was an almost $700 bill for fixing a swimming pool pump at the Ambassador’s residence in Uganda, and a massive $1,500 spend to Zambia’s Fine Fashion Centre for “staff uniforms”Perhaps most objectionable of all was the $820 spent at the Hope Extreme Adventures recreational centre in Mohale, Lesotho ostensibly dubbed as a team-building junket to help the people of Lesotho better oversee their development strategyThe expense, officially logged by government staffers as being for “team fun games for two days" took place at an African adventure centre which advertises pursuits such as horse riding and archery, among other activities, on its website READ MORE

"Guns & Roses" - How left wing coalition might be Ireland's Labour Party's only hope (IrishCentral)

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:31:00 PST

Eamon Gilmore discusses the Algerian hostage situation on Irish TVI was in a hotel room in London last week, and switched on the TV for the news at the time the Algerian hostage crisis was being covered Half way through the bulletin, I see Eamon Gilmore being interview by a press pack in his capacity as Foreign Affairs Minister My first instinct was to think, "Oh yeah, that guy What ever happened him?"For a while now - specifically, since February 2011 - that question has been reverberating round my head READ MORE

New poll finds that 11 percent of people would choose Fine Gael / Labour coalition (IrishCentral)

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:03:45 PST

By: KERRY O'SHEA

A new Millward Brown poll in Sunday’s Independent has found that only 11 percent of people polled would choose a Fine Gael / Labour coalition should a general election be called.

Sinn Fein tables post-budget motion of ‘no confidence’ in Irish government (IrishCentral)

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 07:34:34 PST

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

Sinn Fein will bring a motion of no confidence in the coalition government before the Irish parliament on Tuesday.

Irish deputy PM calls on Israel to halt expansion of West Bank settlements (IrishCentral)

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:54:36 PST

By: ANTOINETTE KELLY

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore called on the Israeli government to withdraw its plans to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank yesterday.

Mansion tax to be introduced in Wednesday’s budget as coalition partners slug it out (IrishCentral)

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 07:15:47 PST

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

The Irish government’s Coalition parties are locked in a bitter dispute ahead of Wednesday’s latest austerity budget.

Red C poll shows rising support for Fine Gael Party with the Irish people (IrishCentral)

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 04:51:35 PDT

By: DARA KELLY

A Red C poll published in Sunday's Business Post indicates a rise in support for Fine Gael.

Leader of Fianna Fail critical of Irish government’s lack of progress with Northern Ireland (IrishCentral)

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:58:13 PDT

By: KERRY O'SHEA

Micheal Martin, leader of the main opposition party in Ireland, Fianna Fail, spoke out on Sunday criticizing the current Irish coalition government’s lack of involvement with Northern Ireland.

They’re back! Fianna Fail rise strongly in Irish poll (IrishCentral)

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 04:31:46 PDT

By: JAMES O'BRIEN

Fianna Fail appear to have come back from the political dead and they are now Ireland’s second biggest party according to a new Irish Times poll.

Emigration the only way out for young Irish in Ireland -- No future, no jobs, no hope if they stay behind (IrishCentral)

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 04:15:28 PDT

Children taking part in a Sinn Fein organized demonstration against emigration in Dublin earlier this yearBehind the very occasional good news story about new jobs the economic situation here remains absolutely dire Not that you would think that watching the way Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny and his ministers turn up at every new job announcement to bask in the glory and suggest that we're emerging from the gloom There have been a couple of examples of this in the past two weeks, with the Kerry Group announcing 900 jobs at a new food product research facility to be built in Co READ MORE

A lot more action needed by Fine Gael/Labour coalition to save Ireland from economic ruin (IrishCentral)

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:32:49 PDT

Eamon Gilmore and Enda Kenny (Eamonn Farrell / Photocall Ireland)There was a huge sense of relief when the Fine Gael/Labor coalition took over the government here after the last election, nearly two years ago now The last government had led us into an economic catastrophe, presiding over a bubble that saw our banks almost wiped out, our state finances bankrupted and our modern nation forced to accept a bailout from the IMF, like some banana republic Ever since, our economy has been sliding into a steep decline, with unemployment now over 14 percent and mass emigration back again So there was enormous relief that Fianna Fail was out READ MORE

Turbulence in the air as Irish Government returns from the summer recess (IrishCentral)

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 05:17:25 PDT

The Dail (Ireland's houses of parliament)It’s mid-September in Ireland and the annual “think-ins” of the political parties here are in full swing as Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Irish parliament) prepares to reconvene after the summer recess Recent weeks have exposed serious differences between the two parties who currently form the governing coalition, Fine Gael and Labour These primarily have to do with proposals to cut government spending and increase taxes as per the dictates of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank One particular spending cut had been mooted would have imperiled services to disabled people in Ireland READ MORE

Irish government cuts to the disabled show they are badly out of touch -- Will they now tackle the unions and the welfare entitlements? (IrishCentral)

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:17:10 PDT

Group of disabled Irish people protest proposed government cutsDUBLIN: I drove past Leinster House, the Irish parliament building in Dublin, last week and saw an extraordinary sightProtesting outside were scores of disabled people, many without arms and legs, because the government had stated they were cutting the budget for their helpers The protestors were almost outnumbered by the mediaThe airwaves were full of their plaintive complaints that their caregivers were being laid off because of budget cuts READ MORE

Irish election looms as gulf widens between Coalition parties on health service cutbacks (IrishCentral)

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:50:29 PDT

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

Ireland is on the brink of a snap general election as tensions mount between the Coalition parties over savage health cuts.

Labour minister at center of abortion storm as Fianna Fail and Pro Life movement go on attack (IrishCentral)

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 04:34:08 PDT

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

Ireland’s Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, is at the center of an abortion row – with opponents claiming he is trying to muzzle debate and the Catholic Church.

A frenetic month in Irish politics: The European Fiscal Compact referendum campaign (IrishCentral)

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:15:18 PDT

A mock poster on the European Fiscal Compact referendum Some weeks ago, this column identified six specific factors to watch out for over the course of the campaign on the latest referendum question posed to Irish voters The six factors were as follows: the overarching context; the tenor of the Yes campaign; the packaging of the No campaign; Fianna Fáil’s management of internal dissent to its official endorsement of a Yes vote; the difficulties that support for the referendum as the junior party in government might occasion for the Labour party; and the impact of the campaign on Sinn Féin’s political fortunesOn Friday, June 1st, we will know if Ireland has decided to join or to reject the fiscal compact, which will impose a stringent requirement of balanced budgets, but will also facilitate access to funding from the European Stability Mechanism if this country requires another bailout in future As the day of reckoning is now upon us, it is worth examining how each of the six factors above has played out READ MORE

Irish Education Ministry to clamp down on cyber-bullying -- four students suspended over teacher Facebook remarks (IrishCentral)

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:15:15 PDT

The Irish Department of Education announced it is to step up its clamp-down on cyber-bullying after four Dublin high-school students are expected to be expelled from school after posting defamatory comments about their teachers on Facebook40 other students were similarly disciplined at Oatlands College, Dublin, this time for merely 'liking' the offensive status updated, while other sources say that the teachers were also subject to "vile" allegations on other social networking media such as TwitterThe comments were posted after the school put on a production of the musical Hairspray at the St Patrick's weekendThe comments were described by the Irish Times as being of a "sexual nature", were leveled against both a male and female teacher, and were posted onto a special Facebook page shortly after the production READ MORE