The Lisbon Treaty

This day next week, the people of Ireland will vote whether or not to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. It's a fairly divisive issue, perhaps the most narrowly separated issue I've followed that I can remember. Well...at least in the space of time where I've had any remote interest in politics. Below is a description taken off EUROPA - Gateway of the European Union, ie. the official European Union website. So I don't want to hear any "That's not the right facts" or anything like that!!

The Treaty of Lisbon amends the current EU and EC treaties, without replacing them. It will provide the Union with the legal framework and tools necessary to meet future challenges and to respond to citizens' demands.

1. A more democratic and transparent Europe, with a strengthened role for the European Parliament and national parliaments, more opportunities for citizens to have their voices heard and a clearer sense of who does what at European and national level.

A strengthened role for the European Parliament: the European Parliament, directly elected by EU citizens, will see important new powers emerge over the EU legislation, the EU budget and international agreements. In particular, the increase of co-decision procedure in policy-making will ensure the European Parliament is placed on an equal footing with the Council, representing Member States, for the vast bulk of EU legislation.

A greater involvement of national parliaments: national parliaments will have greater opportunities to be involved in the work of the EU, in particular thanks to a new mechanism to monitor that the Union only acts where results can be better attained at EU level (subsidiarity). Together with the strengthened role for the European Parliament, it will enhance democracy and increase legitimacy in the functioning of the Union.

A stronger voice for citizens: thanks to the Citizens' Initiative, one million citizens from a number of Member States will have the possibility to call on the Commission to bring forward new policy proposals.

Who does what: the relationship between the Member States and the European Union will become clearer with the categorisation of competences.

Withdrawal from the Union: the Treaty of Lisbon explicitly recognises for the first time the possibility for a Member State to withdraw from the Union.

A more efficient Europe, with simplified working methods and voting rules, streamlined and modern institutions for a EU of 27 members and an improved ability to act in areas of major priority for today's Union.

Effective and efficient decision-making: qualified majority voting in the Council will be extended to new policy areas to make decision-making faster and more efficient. From 2014 on, the calculation of qualified majority will be based on the double majority of Member States and people, thus representing the dual legitimacy of the Union.A double majority will be achieved when a decision is taken by 55% of the Member States representing at least 65% of the Union’s population.

A more stable and streamlined institutional framework: the Treaty of Lisbon creates the function of President of the European Council elected for two and a half years, introduces a direct link between the election of the Commission President and the results of the European elections, provides for new arrangements for the future composition of the European Parliament and for a smaller Commission, and includes clearer rules on enhanced cooperation and financial provisions.
Improving the life of Europeans: the Treaty of Lisbon improves the EU's ability to act in several policy areas of major priority for today's Union and its citizens. This is the case in particular for the policy areas of freedom, security and justice, such as combating terrorism or tackling crime. It also concerns to some extent other areas including energy policy, public health, civil protection, climate change, services of general interest, research, space, territorial cohesion, commercial policy, humanitarian aid, sport, tourism and administrative cooperation.

A Europe of rights and values, freedom, solidarity and security, promoting the Union's values, introducing the Charter of Fundamental Rights into European primary law, providing for new solidarity mechanisms and ensuring better protection of European citizens.

Democratic values: the Treaty of Lisbon details and reinforces the values and objectives on which the Union is built. These values aim to serve as a reference point for European citizens and to demonstrate what Europe has to offer its partners worldwide.

Citizens' rights and Charter of Fundamental Rights: the Treaty of Lisbon preserves existing rights while introducing new ones. In particular, it guarantees the freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and gives its provisions a binding legal force. It concerns civil, political, economic and social rights.

Freedom of European citizens: the Treaty of Lisbon preserves and reinforces the "four freedoms" and the political, economic and social freedom of European citizens.

Solidarity between Member States: the Treaty of Lisbon provides that the Union and its Member States act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the subject of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster. Solidarity in the area of energy is also emphasised.

Increased security for all: the Union will get an extended capacity to act on freedom, security and justice, which will bring direct benefits in terms of the Union's ability to fight crime and terrorism. New provisions on civil protection, humanitarian aid and public health also aim at boosting the Union's ability to respond to threats to the security of European citizens.

Europe as an actor on the global stage will be achieved by bringing together Europe's external policy tools, both when developing and deciding new policies. The Treaty of Lisbon will give Europe a clear voice in relations with its partners worldwide. It will harness Europe's economic, humanitarian, political and diplomatic strengths to promote European interests and values worldwide, while respecting the particular interests of the Member States in Foreign Affairs.

A new High Representative for the Union in Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, also Vice-President of the Commission, will increase the impact, the coherence and the visibility of the EU's external action.

A new European External Action Service will provide back up and support to the High Representative.

A single legal personality for the Union will strengthen the Union's negotiating power, making it more effective on the world stage and a more visible partner for third countries and international organisations.

Progress in European Security and Defence Policy will preserve special decision-making arrangements but also pave the way towards reinforced cooperation amongst a smaller group of Member States.

I don't want to discuss what each side here in Ireland is telling us is right, because quite frankly I would give a biased opinion. I am in fact in favour of the Treaty so it would be unfair of me to say why I think the "No Campaign" is incorrect and so on. What I will say however is that I - me, personally - cannot fundamentally agree with Sinn Fein on anything. I never have, and don't plan to. Given that they are the only main political party opposing the Treaty, and the others (Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, Greens) are all in favour, turns me to vote YES, simply on the principle of which political parties I respect. I may not agree with Fine Gael or Labour, but that doesn't suggest I don't respect them as a political party. Sinn Fein on the otherhand is a completely different matter.

I personally feel that it is Ireland's duty to pass this Treaty. We are the only country to hold a vote on the matter, and Europe is looking to us to succeed. I am of the opinion that Europe has been very good to us, and that we have benefited greatly from our membership in the EU. Now, the EU is asking us to do something, and I think we owe it to them to give something back for a change. I am afraid that the strength of the No Campaign is showing a very selfish side to Irish culture, no sense of giving back to others. I can't comment for everyone, but some of the people who I've spoken to who plan to vote NO don't really understand why they are voting NO. Not ALL are like that, most have iterated exactly why they are voting NO and I completely respect that. As I said I don't plan to illustrate what each side is telling us, but having now (FINALLY) read through the handbook, I can't help but feel that the No Campaign is just a tad misleading... I once again reiterate that I am not detailing why I believe this to be the case, I will leave that to yourself as the voter.

~The Damo

America on the Verge of History

Barack Obama sits just 50 delegates short of winning a majority in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. With a turn in the numbers of superdelegates backing the Illinois senator, Obama seems now certain to seal the nomination - the first black man to contest a Presidential election. Either way the Democrats would've made history, it would have been the first woman in Hillary Clinton.

When the race began Clinton was certain of victory, but a combination of many factors, including attacks on Obama which were deemed "unacceptable" by analysts, statements regarding Bosnia and so on have all caused Clinton's downfall. Certainly remarks regarding "eliminating Israel" would raise eyebrows aswell. The problem for the Democrats however is that both candidates are attracting seperate votes, which may prove detrimental come the actual election. As I see it, I can't see America voting for a black man or a woman as President, regardless of how liberal they claim to be. And let's face it, I don't think anyone can transform America from being one of the most hated countries in the world...if not the only one. Realistically, I can see McCain being elected come the final vote. Had Obama and Clinton run as President and Vice President (in any order) they'd have stood a better chance. It's hard to visualise either of them being President - personally.

(note the spelling of "Tomorrow")

Despite the amount of support the Democrats may have in the Senate (or at the very least the support they may have gained due to the Bush administration), one has to remember that in America you're either one or the other. As such, if you're Republican, you're going to vote for McCain, regardless. But because the Democratic support is so split as it is, with very strong differences and such strong negativety towards the other side, the question arises whether the Democrats can unite to get into power. The shear lack of competition for the Republican nomination would tend to suggest that Republican voters stand united behind their candidate. The competition and division with the Democrats may influence those on the benches to vote Republican, for the simple reason of collaboration (and arguably stability) in the Republican party - something which seems to be absent in the Democrats given the nature of their race for the nomination.

While this kind of race is exciting in its own way, it makes me appreciate just how well off we are in this country for politics. We have such great choice. Whether you agree with Fianna Fail being in power or not, since 1997 we have had stable governments. In fact, politics in Ireland have been quite stable in recent years. Now I understand that it doesn't work the same way in America, but I cannot recall in my time of their being the type of the division we have in the Democrats now in any single party we have today. Yes we had all those seperations and so on years back but like I said...my time. And I'm talking about such drastic division over the right candidate and so on.

Okay I realise that blog is a bit all over the place, but I'm tired and can't really think straight at the moment, I've some very serious issues on my mind at the moment.

Anyway, GO OBAMA!!! Just had to get that in there...

~The Damo

The Empire Strikes Barack

Brilliant...just brilliant. One might argue that this person has no life to make this, and under normal circumstances I'd probably agree. But it's just so damn good!



~The Damo

The Shannon Debate

As many of you will know, "The Shannon Debate" is the hot topic on the Irish news front at the moment. As a Dubliner (or Paler as the "West" would say), I can't say I feel too strongly about this topic, but it's gotten to the point where there's a lot of whinging and moaning and I figured it was an appropriate time to address the issue and give my opinion on the matter.

THE FACTS:

1. Aer Lingus has cut its Shannon-Heathrow slot and moved it to Belfast.

2. The people in the West of Ireland are very pissed off!

3. People think the Government should intervene.

4. Shannon Airport is a disaster anyway.

So the basic story is that Aer Lingus has decided to cut its service to Heathrow from Shannon and the people of the region feel that is a disaster for the West of Ireland. RTE.ie are running a poll, and so far (when I last checked) the "Situation is over-exaggerated" option is winning out, and fact of the matter is, I agree.

First and foremost this is not (and never should have been) a Government Issue. Aer Lingus is a private company, yes the Government has a 25% stake in the airline, but guess what folks, you have to own at least 51% of any company to make the decisions, Government or not! The only reason they own 25% is to prevent Ryanair taking over Aer Lingus. Don't get me wrong now, I don't like Aer Lingus nor do I like Ryanair, but realisitcally I think they are well within their rights to end the Heathrow service. What annoys me most though here is that the people there must still think Heathrow is the centre of the world!! From what I've read and heard from people I know, Shannon is the most inconvenient place in Europe. All flights to Dublin or the UK from the USA have to stop there for an hour, but apparently new laws will eventually make this stopover unnecessary.

One has to remember that the Aer Lingus decision is based on any decision a business has to make and base it on commercial interests over sentimentality. Thanks to sliabh.net, I was able to pick up some interesting information regarding the debate. In a supposed unbiased interview on RTE, the interviewer implied that Aer Lingus is supposed to act more like the Department of Social Welfare and prop up the local economy in the area like some charity. Wake up people, commercial bodies have no such duty. One person on TV I think it was, could've been radio, as the TV and radio were on simultaneously, stated: "It's the West against the Pale". This somehow implies that the whole debate is a regional and social dog fight mixed with Dublin, and not what it truly is which is a very legitimate corporate decision.

Not having used Shannon myself, I wouldn't be able to comment on the quality of the Airport without having done some research. From several sources, the conclusion can be drawn that Shannon is a mess. One website suggested the airport "might as well be in Southern Italy the way it's run". Without being born before Shannon was built and living through its progression as an Airport I had to look deeper and during the research I learned that Shannon itself has been protected by local politicans for years, pushing forward the "forced stop-over" I mentioned earlier above all things. Another area which suggested bad management at Shannon was the "Fast-Pass self Check in system" installed by Aer Lingus. Dozens of these terminals were installed in Dublin, Cork and even JFK. What about Shannon? Only 2. Why? Local resistance in protest against a system which would make check-ins and overall service in the airport more efficient. Is it any wonder why Aer Lingus want to get the hell out of there???

People are protesting now. Just wait till the forced stop-over is lifted next year and all the big US airlines will pull out too. The EU is watching Governments that try to intervene in matters such as this and ours is no exception!

One comment during the research made an excellent point. Thanks "Kieran" whoever you may be. In his comment, he wanted to know how did the region let itself get so dependent on one service from one airline? Kieran points out that the region itself got into this mess, and only they can get themselves out of it. Good man Kieran!

Personally, I support Aer Lingus in this matter. Not that I was overly interested when I first heard the issue, but when I started to hear all the bull that started after it, I had far more sympathy for them than I had for people of the region.

Bottom line is this:- Aer Lingus are a company and made a commercial decision to leave. The Government has no say as it does not own the company, so you can't go crying to them. Given how bad service at Shannon is, is it really any surprise that Aer Lingus pulled out? Do they expect someone else to fill it up with a service so bad? The whole thing is blown out of proportion if you ask me. If a region has to depend on one service to keep its economy going then there is something wrong there, and no one but the region folk themselves can sort that out. One also has to wonder why we have Shannon airport that is so close to Cork? Cork being a far more interesting place to go ahead of Shannon anyway.

Is the end of Shannon nigh? If you ask me...yes. Not because of the Aer Lingus move, but more on reality. Next year, the EU will have the stop-over clause removed entirely rather than it being relaxed, which will have an obvious effect. The other big deal is the Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. With the capacity to handle more passengers the effect of this is also evident. Yes Shannon has its perks, being listed as a potential emergency landing zone for the NASA space shuttle, the testing grounds of the now unused Concorde aswell as technically being the only airport in Ireland to be able to accomodate an Airbus A380, but let's face it, the day will never come when Shannon will be supporting an A380 service anyway.

This blog may be of interest, as it seems to be written by a local resident, who feels so strongly over the matter that he has dedicated a blogspot to it: http://aerlingussnnlhr.blogspot.com/

I wonder when I'll be writing a "Time to Let It Go" blog about this one.....

~The Damo

Green War!

Tonight, the Green Party will vote whether to enter coalition government with Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats.




The full summary of the proposal is below:



Environment
* Set a target for reduction of 3% per year on average in Irish greenhouse gas emissions.
* Mandate the Dept of Environment to publish an annual report setting out progress on meeting climate change targets.
* Review and renew the role of the EPA
* Establish Climate Change commission
* Introduce Noise Bill
* Require carbon offsetting of all official air travel in support of urban forests.

Energy
* Dramatically accelerate the growth of renewable energy sources in the electricity, heat and transport sectors of the economy. One third of all electricity consumed will come from renewable energy by 2020.
* Devise a price support scheme to support and encourage investment in the development of wave and tidal power.
* Introduce new national building standards in 2007 to ensure that new housing has 40% lower heat energy demand than existing building standards and revise them again in 2010 to achieve a 60% target in further years.
* Introduce new National Attic and Wall Insulation Grant Scheme worth €100m.
* Ensure that the ESB installs a new smart electronic meter in every home in the country which will allow people to reduce their bills by cutting back on unnecessary use of electricity.
* Work with the European Commission and other national grid operators to develop an offshore wind farm grid connection system to power the rest of Europe.
* Provide substantial financial support to improve the energy efficiency of existing public housing and assist those on low incomes to avoid fuel poverty.

Transport
* Multi-criteria analysis of all transport projects to take into account environmental factors on a whole project basis.
* Bring into being a National Transport Regulator after bringing into being a Dublin Transport Authority.
* Substantially improve and expand the Luas service in Dublin.
* Establish and support the work of the Dublin Transport Authority to oversee strategic planning, infrastructure, services, fares, routes and traffic management.
* Reopen Western rail Corridor from Ennis to Claremorris.
* Opening the Navan rail line.
* Opening Cork-Midleton rail service, provide a commuter rail service between Galway and Athenry.
* Conduct feasibility studies, to be completed within two years, into the Luas-style light rail systems in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.

Education
* Commit to an additional €350m per year on new service developments in education.
* Provide each child with special needs with the right to an individual Education Plan. In case of autism the Plan will enable them to benefit from a range of teaching approaches.
* Ensure education in road safety is provided at different stages of the school system.
Expand the number of adult literacy training places by 4000.

Taxation Policy
* Setting up a Commission on Taxation to examine the balance of how taxes are collected, the value of taxes reliefs and the introduction of environmental taxes.
* Changes in VAT in relation to environmental goods and services.
* A carbon levy to be introduced during the lifetime of this Government.

Social Partnership
* Environmental organisations to become social partners.
* Comhar - The National Sustainability Council - to become part of the National Economic and Social Development Office, and given an enhanced research role.

Extraordinary Rendition
* The Irish Government is completely opposed to the practice of extraordinary rendition. To that end, the Government will encourage and support An Garda Síochána in the investigation an enforcement of these Statues. It will do this by making resources available for specialised training in the provisions of those Statutes to members of An Garda Síochána and by other means as may be required by An Garda Síochána in order to ensure effective protection for the dignity of all persons within or passing through the State. We will ensure that all relevant legal instruments are used so that the practice of extraordinary rendition does not occur in this State in any form.

Electoral Reform
* Establish an independent Electoral Commission to take responsibility for electoral administration and oversight. It will also take charge of the compilation of a new national rolling electoral register. It will take over the functions of the Standards in Public Office Commission in relation to electoral expenditure and examine the issue of financing of the political system.

Local Government Reform
* We will reform local government making it more transparent and more responsible to its customers. A Green Paper on Local Government Reform will be published with in six months of coming into office. This Green Paper will examine proper balance of power at local levis between the Manager and the elected representatives, the issue of directly elected Mayors/Chairs, the establishment of town councils in those towns that have shown significant population growth in recent years and the provision of quality customer service to the public.
* Directly elected Mayor for Dublin by 2011.
* We will review the operation of local government legislation to ensure that the decision making processes in local authorities are rebalanced in favour of the democratically elected representatives of the people.
* Ensure that there is an acceptable 'buffer period' before civil servants or local government officials can take up employment in related areas of the private sector.

The negotiating team has to get its members to approve the draft; its failure to make progress on the Shannon stopover and the hospitals co-location plan could make this difficult.

In relation to Shannon, the stopover will continue but assurances have been given that the Irish military can carry out inspections when seen fit into the practice of so-called extraordinary rendition.

Fianna Fail have already accepted the deal unanimously, and the 3 Independents Michael Lowry, Finnian McGrath and Jackie Healy-Rae have all signed agreements with Bertie Ahern to vote for him tomorrow.


So even without the Greens, it now is certain that Bertie Ahern will be elected Taoiseach for the 3rd successive time.

Till they search and invent such intelligent weapons, that kill each other like the Gears of War!

~The Damo

EDIT @ 22.40: Green Party have approved the document with a majority of 86% and Trevor Sargent has resigned as party leader. He has said however that in the spirit of cooperation he will second the nomination of Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach but will not accept a cabinet position.

The People Decided

Okay so it's been a while since the General Election, but I figured I'd best write something now since the in-Dail nominations for Taoiseach and Ceann Chomhairle will be taking place this Thursday.



Let's have a quick look at how the parties performed:

Fianna Fail: 78 seats
Fine Gael: 51 seats
Labour: 20 seats
PD's: 2 seats
Greens: 6 seats
Sinn Fein: 4 seats
Independents: 5 seats


Despite an incredible campaign by Enda Kenny, it seems highly likely that Bertie Ahern will be elected Taoiseach for the 3rd consecutive time this Thursday which I think, though I may be mistaken, will make him the longest serving Prime Minister in Europe to date.

The question that still remains however is who will be forming the next government. Realistically speaking, the Fine Gael/Labour lead government is out of the question, as it requires everyone except Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein. So the true question is, who will go to government with Fianna Fail.....

At present, the Greens and FF are in talks on formation of a government. Should these talks succeed, then we will likely have Trevor Sargent serving as Tanaiste and Minister for the Environment. If these talks fail, which is equally as likely as them succeeding, then the next likely goverment will be FF, the PD's and 4/5 Independents, as FF seem unwilling to do a deal with Tony Gregory. The other possibility, though highly unlikely, is a deal with Labour on the basis of stability. However this seems most unlikely as FF will not be keen to dish out 5 cabinet seats to Labour.

Looking at the results, I'll just briefly mention what went right or wrong for each of the parties.

Fianna Fail - opinion polls at the beginning of the campaign suggested they would only make as little as 50 seats. Whether or not the leaders debate gave Bertie Ahern the edge over his rival Enda Kenny is still unclear, but in several polls across different newspapers and surveys, it was evident early on that Bertie Ahern was the preferred man to lead the country ahead of Enda Kenny, the issue of which party would be in government didn't really materialise.

Fine Gael - both a win and a loss. Enda Kenny has done the impossible and restored Fine Gael to the position it was in pre-2002. However, he has failed to convince the public that he is the man that should be leading the country. The main thing Fine Gael can take from this is that come the next election they will be in a much stronger position to enter power.

Labour - arguably unchanged. Many commentators have mentioned that it was perhaps Labour's allegiance to FG that prevented them from making significant gains, that perhaps they should have stood alone as a party. Certainly one part of the strategy that backfired was FG gaining seats from Labour. Thus the overall quota of the combined parties was not as large as it could have been. Ultimately the decision between FF and FG+Lab came down to "Stick with the Devil you know, than the Devil you don't".

PD's - bad election. Coupled with the sudden resignation of Michael McDowell, speculation is flying that this is the end of the party, and members like Mary Harney may step back into FF's shoes. This result is likely due to McDowell's leadership. I don't think he was as "popular" as Mary Harney and his stance regarding Bertie's finances perhaps didn't do him much favours.

Greens - unchanged, though initially they held the balance of power. While they may be winning the student vote in places, they have obviously failed to win the older vote. Their policies on climate change are important and no doubt would form a strong government with FF should talks succeed.

Sinn Fein - not as well as was predicted. SF expected to make gains across the country, in particular the capital, but since have been reduced to just one seat held by Aengus O'Snodaigh in Dublin South Central. Thankfully, people are not bought in by their change of heart in the North, as for me SF will always have the image they have now, and should never ever be considered for government.



I'll write up another thing after Thursday to see how things turn out.

Until then, remember it's payback time at the United Abominations!

~The Damo

Elections & Decisions......

So we have a general election on our hands soon. Unfortunately I wasn't 18 fast enough to get on the register so I was a bit pissed off about that. But you know, as they say, it's better to be pissed off than pissed on.

Why then am I writing this? Well I do have an interest in politics, despite what others may think because I have this habit of declaring "I really don't care!", but politics...I do. The shear humour in politics was only really brought to my attention this year in college, simply because I picked up the two free newspapers every morning. A typical article would start:

"A new report into X services shows that there is a problem with Y, Z and W, and the number of Y's has increased/decreased significantly". Then in every article near the end you would have: "Opposition spokesperson B criticised the government for not solving the problem".

Well, let's face it. I don't think anyone expects the government to solve any problem the day after a report is issued, but you know, its obvious all the Opposition set out to do is ridicule the government. Realistically, the Opposition wouldn't be able to do any better. If Fine Gael and Labour were in government now, would we still have the nurses’ strike? Of course we would, nobody can solve the problem of people asking for more pay for less work. Or we have the issue of hospital beds and waiting numbers in A&E's? It's quite clear that if there was a realistic solution to the problem, then the current government would already have implemented it. We know this government isn't incompetent, as they've lead us through the 10 most prosperous years in the State's history. Looking at the election, all parties have promised 2,000 extra beds. Thanks to the panel, we have learned that this was always an issue. The population grows, people get ill, you're going to have a problem and there's nothing you can do.








Traffic. I believe the current government has set up a purchase of the Toll Gates, so that they can be eventually raised permanently, though not until 2012 I believe. Now the Opposition says they can have them raised next year. Like the hospital situation, I have no doubt that if it was feasible for the current government to raise the tolls, they would. The M50. Will always be a problem, no one is going to be able to solve it. As an aspiring engineer, I absolutely love driving by the Lucan Intersection so I can see the work that’s going on, and let me tell you, it is a real modern solution. Total removal of traffic lights, allowing for free flowing traffic, coupled with the removal of the toll gates (to the right), I do believe the solution will work. Already we have seen that both the Dublin Port Tunnel (ignoring the height mess up) and the LUAS are two other projects which stand to success for the current coalition. I can tell you that travelling on the quays in town in the mornings is really a more pleasant experience now than what it was. The Greens have promised a LUAS for Cork.....WHY??? I am sorry, but Cork with a population the quarter of Dublin is not in the need of any kind of mass transit system. I suppose they'd want a metro aswell.

I really could go on, but you just have to look at each manifesto and see that there is very little difference between any of them. Am I bothered whether Fine Gael and Labour take over? Not entirely, as I'm sure they will do as good a job as Fianna Fail and the PD's did. The only doubt I have with the alternate coalition is their attitude to Shannon. I discussed this issue with Ann Marie; I'm more of a 'be on America's side rather than just piss them off' kind of person. They've only done good things for our economy realistically speaking, and despite the fact that we are officially 'neutral' and all that, they're more our 'allies' than our 'enemies'. I'm also not a huge fan of Labour's pledge to lower voting age to 16...which is ridiculous if you ask me. However I do like their plan for Dublin, including the flat fee for Dublin bus. How much will that cost the state? Who knows? They'll find some other way to tax us anyway.

Do we want two men from Mayo running the country? Or should we stick with Bertie who's one of the ladz?

Time will tell...

~The Damo