Isn’t it ironic that the independent group people before profit – united left alliance candidate Anne Foley has gone up north to get her election material printed?
Her campaign material has been printed by GMK Graphics Limited based in Belfast.
As much as a lot of us would love to see the taxes of all 32 counties go to the IRISH government the fact is at present this is not the case. Someone needs to tell United Left Alliance. I can’t get my head around the fact that an opposition party that are going to do this and that for the country taking money out of the Irish economy and paying it to the English Government. Nothing short of a pack of hypocrites.
Elections are not contested with public funds but if you’re looking for this bloggers vote you’re going the wrong way about it.
Politicians, Bankers and Developers have brought this country to its knees. Now the poor must pay. While the super rich like myself continue to be protected. What a country.
Roll on the Election.
Isnt it just great to see our inept, inadequate government canvassing on TV afraid of call to the door to ask for my vote… its about time they got a good kick in the preverbials to wake them up to the realisation that we wont take any more of their bullshit… POWER TO THE PEOPLE!! I say. Vote Independent.
It’s also good too see them do some work for their money like the rest of us. A lot of good ideas being banded about no doubt they will be shelved however after the election. For the last 12 years Finna Fail and the Greens have just sat about like zoo keepers feeding the seals throwing European cash like dead fish to the ones who shout the loudest! No easy task I suppose when your nose is in the trough!
But are this outgoing administration really running scared. We still vote for them election after election. This same ineptitude and corruption was on display prior to the last election yet people still voted for them. Until people lose this romantic perception of ‘pulling a stroke’ as something harmless and bit of craic we’ll just watch the country slide backwards even further (if that’s possible.)
If I was running I would first look at fixing local government, then fix the civil service and we’re more likely to see meaningful change.
Rationalise the levels of hierachy/ grades of service. Far too elaborate and serves to hide responsibility as well as couching decision making in ‘processes’. In a service based system (be it national economy or business) the organisational structure needs to be nimble.
- Consolidate the logistical functions across all departments, so that each operate against a single framework for actions like tendering, purchasing and communications. Having many departments doing their own thing is inefficient and uneconomical.
- Instead of using decentralisation as a vote grabber, go and actually implement it as planned. We sell Ireland to foreign companies on the basis of the economics of specific locations yet we locate civil servants (whose function isn’t location dependent) in expensive locations with high associated costs.
- Remuneration is tied to measurable performance (I know the KPI buzz-acronym/TLA is overused but it can make sense at specific levels) instead of time served.
In identical red jackets, bedazzled collars and glittery runners the identical twins gave an energetic performance of Lipstick, overcoming the competition in spite of a last-minute change in voting arrangements. Although the voting was originally supposed to have been an equal split between regional juries and a public vote, this was changed after a 30-second clip of the song was inadvertently leaked on the internet due to an administrative error by Universal Records, the twins’ record company.
As a result the voting was changed so the juries’ decision was worth two-thirds of the overall vote, the rest of which was up to the public.
The Grimes twins – John and Edward – entertained, if not completely bowled over, the Late Late Show’s live panel, made up of RTÉ’s Marty Whelan; singer Brian Kennedy; Cheryl Baker, a former Eurovision winner with Bucks Fizz; and Today FM’s Mairead Farrell. The majority of the panel cited Nikki Kavanagh and her song Falling as their preference. She also received most points among the regional juries.
Jedward will represent Ireland in the Eurovision song contest in Düsseldorf, Germany, with Ireland competing in the second semi-final on Thursday May 12th in a bid to reach the final.
Gary Moore was a musician best recognized as a blues rock guitarist and singer from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey as early as his secondary school days, leading him to a membership twice with the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Moore has shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King, Colosseum II, Greg Lake and Skid Row (not to be confused with the glam metal band of the same name), as well as having a successful solo career.
He has guested on a number of albums recorded by high profile musicians, including a cameo appearance playing the lead guitar solo on “She’s My Baby” from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
Gary Moore died on 6 February 2011 in his sleep while on holiday in Spain aged 58.
