This ‘new politics’… and all can be on the FF front bench. Well, almost all… January 31, 2011
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Irish Politics.trackback
What was it I was saying about Martin’s ploy being to have an eye-catching announcement very day of the campaign. Kudos to the man, he’s not doing too badly so far, though… the latest development does seem to kind of sort of represent a political jumping of the shark…
For…
Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin has named eight people with no ministerial experience, including one Senator, three councillors and a party member unelected to public office, to his new team of party spokespeople.
Well, it’s certainly ‘new’, though I’d be interested in precisely how, other than hoping to assist in the election chances of those who are candidates, those spokespeople will operate in the wake of the election.
Though on second thoughts…
A further straw in the wind on the ‘new’ component is that he’s clearly been unable to dissuade the two candidates in Dun Laoghaire from running and thereby potentially seeing both seats go west.
Ah, this ‘new’ politics. In parts, surprisingly like the old.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
The tache is back by the way.
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[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Northern Ireland, Cedar Lounge Revol. Cedar Lounge Revol said: This ‘new politics’… and all can be on the FF front bench. Well, almost all…: What was it I was saying about Mar… http://bit.ly/hAT2Qd […]
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I wonder why he took the surprise decision to promote Councillor Jim O’Callaghan, brother of Miriam and brother in law of the head of RTE television?
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To ask the question is to answer it 😉
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Just like Mrs Merton: “What first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?”
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Fionnán Sheehan’s missus also gets a leg up to the front bench, despite having been elected to precisely nothing.
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Got to say Tomboktu that might be my favourite question of all time. Even years later I still smile.
Paddy M, now there’s a thought!
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One of the fun parts of the election campaign will be when political journalists start deciding that Martin is having a stormer of a campaign, probably the same journalists who spotted several revivals of Cowen’s fortunes over the last couple of years. This article will begin something along the lines of, “A strange thing has happened during the campaign. Michael Martin has won over the doubters blah blah blah,” and give the impression of a sceptical soul being reluctantly won over by the accumulation of incontrovertible evidence. It’s already been written of course.
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Gotta laugh though at the two fingers to Bertie and Cyprian implicit in the elevation of Mary FitzPatrick.
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🙂 That’s very true. And no harm at all to her chances in DC.
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Brady thrown under the bus alright – very overt showcase for Fitzpatrick. It’s the end of an era. Now if someone could shift the Costello’s off their throne too…
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It also shows how far they’ve sunk when the front bench has actually been constructed with the aim of winning a few marginal seats in Dublin.
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And that’s very very true, particularly in light of Bartley’s point.
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Will Mary Fitz’s elevation make the Dublin Central inter-FF tussle all the more bitter or will Cyprian retire gracefully against the odds (and ‘for the good of the party’, of course).
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Yes please, let him do a Noel O’Flynn on it.
Alastair as regards the Costello’s I would be a tad concerned they might be there long after we’re all gone.
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‘Fionnán Sheehan’s missus also gets a leg up to the front bench, despite having been elected to precisely nothing.’
I’m sure Fionnán won’t let it interfere with his brilliant journalism, no more than Shane Coleman let his brother-in-law’s politics interfere with his incisive analysis of Fianna Fáil or no more than that you could ever guess that Ryan Tubridy’s family had political connections.
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They will be as transparent as panes of glass.
In every sense of the word.
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To be fair to Tubs, I think he’s always been open about his family’s affiliations and history.
I don’t know that the same can be said of Messrs Sheehan and Coleman.
I stand to be corrected by these fair-minded gentlemen of the press.
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Fionnán was open enough about this on the radio on Sunday – he made the point that he was accused of bias from a number of angles, so always needed to ask which one it was. His wife runs for FG, he’s run for FF in the past, and he’s voted for Ruari Quinn. Maybe he’s over-egging it, but unless you can claim that your partner shares all your political values, why suppose it’s different for him?
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Sorry – transpose the FF/FG
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His wife runs for FG
His wife is Averil frackin’ Power, so no, I don’t think she’ll be running for FG.
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Welcome to 3 minutes ago
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Was on Near FM, with Power on Sunday, seems her accent may have been of benefit in getting her onto the front bench.
The I’m not Galway tent, but working class strategy and the working class are best represented by FF, clean brush etc., forget about the past, MM apology, look to the future.
She must have forgot that she was a Government advisor for years.
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Interesting that. They seem to think the voters are idiots and won’t do any research into the backgrounds of candidates. On another note, this promotion could backfire on Willie, he’s built himself up on the basis of his position in government, then on his willingness to criticise different policies and play the renegade. This move to bring him back to the heart of the beast will definitely see him lose votes. As will the dredging up of the Quinlivan affair, which left a bad taste in the mouth of Limerick people.
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It seems that some of the most prominent members of the Socialist International aren’t too happy about their expedient decision to jettison poor old Mubarak after 30 years of comradeship:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/02/tony-blair-mubarak-courageous-force-for-good-egypt
Mister Tony reemerges to praise Mubarak as an “immensely courageous force for good”
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He’s a piece of work.
Right now thugs hired by the ‘force for good’ have blocked all the exits from Tahir Sq. and are setting about the peaceful protesters. Defences being mounted and the Army is doing nothing.
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Rumour has it that it was Micheal Martin who persuaded Mubarak not to stand in the next election.
“Listen, Hosni,” says he. “We’re after looking at the figures, and there’s just no way we can hold 2 seats in Cairo North Central.”
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