Articles in the Comment Category

One of the peculiarities of Irish General Election campaigns, and certainly a prominent feature of the one currently in full swing, is that they are conducted by the participants with only a tacit recognition of what has become a defining feature of Irish political life: that the Government eventually produced by the process will be comprised not of a single party but of two or more parties in coalition. The traditional campaigning approach adopted seems in one sense to patronise the voter, who is not encouraged to give much ...

And so it begins… The starting pistol for the General Election campaign fired by Brian Cowen on the last day of the 30th Dáil on Tuesday was a parting shot as redundant as much of the noise which emanated from the Taoiseach and his parliamentary colleagues during the course of the valedictory proceedings that brought the curtain down on a regime of government that everyone in the country seems glad to see the back of. Across the land the prospective occupants of the Leinster House benches when they are reallocated ...

This passing week is of a nature that in normal circumstances would vouchsafe it a very significant place in the annals of recent Irish political history: a period in office of a government administration is approaching its conclusion, what has traditionally been the largest political party in the country is electing a new leader, and a piece of legislation perceived as vital in commencing the process of meaningful economic recovery is in the process of being enacted. But these events won’t shine from the pages of the history books. ...

Observers of the ongoing convulsions in the Fianna Fáil party, quelled temporarily by this week’s somewhat pyrrhic confidence motion victory by the obdurate but enduring Brian Cowen, and watchers of the wider political scene generally might be tempted to sum it all up by turning a well-worn phrase on its head and declaring the current state of the nation a case of “too many Indians, not enough chiefs”. That Mr Cowen survived the half-hearted heave against him is a tribute to his street-fighting skills and his adeptness at manipulating ...

The end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 has been an unpleasant one for many people in Co Monaghan due to the severity of the climate. Negotiating roads and footpaths became a hazardous and risky venture for motorists and pedestrians. And even the sanctuary of the home was invaded by the icy tendrils of the weather, with Christmas and New Year for some being blighted by problems with heating systems or water supply, or the outright calamity of burst pipes. Throughout it all the good men ...

THE CREDIT UNION MODEL Local, trusted, serving you… The values emphasised by branches of the Irish credit union movement in asserting their attractiveness to existing and potential customers are well known from media promotional campaigns. They embody attributes that would seem to advantage them greatly in their form of lending, particularly at a time when these distinguishing characteristics appear conspicuous by their absence in many other facets of the beleaguered sector of credit institutions. In one respect, credit unions – which aspire to operate as local co-operatives not driven by ...

The impact on each and every one of us of the nation's dire economic straits has been overlaid with a further layer of tribulation in recent weeks by the cruelties of the climate, adding to our inconvenience, worries and difficulties and, for our trading and commercial community, threatening to blight what many will have been depending upon for a remunerative fillip to brighten a meagre year.

Last Friday’s exposition by Co Monaghan Vocational Education Committee of the design details of the new education campus project to be developed next year at the site of the former Monaghan Military Barracks in Knockaconny was an impressive event, its gravitas matching the momentous nature of a development that promises to deliver much to its location in terms of both stature and economic value. It was by any definition of the term a good news day, perhaps one of the most important in the recent history of a county ...

The various streams of Co Monaghan life were still engaged yesterday in digesting the implications of the Budget measures announced by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan on Tuesday as the first steps in restoring stability to the Irish economy. No sector was spared from the tax increases and benefit cuts announced. Local political reaction has divided along predictable lines, with Dr Rory O’Hanlon TD of Fianna Fail describing the stringencies as very tough but very necessary, while Fine Gael’s Seymour Crawford condemned the approach taken by Minister Lenihan ...

While the increasingly precious commodity of salt is being put to intensive use on the frozen roads of the constituency just now, we suggest that just a pinch of it be held back to be taken with the current intensive speculation surrounding the identity of the candidates who will battle for Cavan/Monaghan seats in the imminent General Election. The news that sitting TDs Seymour Crawford of Fine Gael and Dr Rory O’Hanlon of Fianna Fáil will not be seeking re-election heralds a watershed moment in national representative politics in ...