Some brief comments....
1. I'm very pleased for Brian Lenihan being made Minister for Justice. He has impressed me a lot in recent years. He is a calm intelligent man of barrister background who never gets caught out in any tough debates. Something about the man's demeanor makes me wonder if he could be Taoiseach material in the distant future....post Biffo (Brian Cowan) I guess. It's also nice to see him carrying the torch of his late father and namesake.
2. The Greens in Government. It can only do good for us all. I think they might be maturing as a party. I've been impressed by Eamon Ryan in debates. John Gormley less so, but let's see what happens. But it's clever how roads were taken out of Environment (Gormley's gig) into Transport and also Roche signing the M3 as his last act. All prearranged with the Greens in the recent hot talks - I've little doubt at all on this.
3. It's a major achievement for Bertie Ahern and assures him of a unique place in history. The tribunal is the only thing which could tarnish him now. However it's looking less likely as Tom Gilmartin's credibility as a witness is fading somewhat following recent retractions etc.
FG and Labour must be as sick as parrots. FF have the numbers, flexibility and clout to do deals with anyone to stay in Government. I've said this again and again in previous Blogs...FG must get bigger organically on their own, they've made a good recovery from the last election and I'm sure their day in the sun will come. As good as Brian Cowan might be as a vote getter and his nice Santa Claus budgets, I don't think he has great personality, nor he is ideal Taoiseach material in the wake of Bertie Ahern. If Biffo leads FF into the next election and FG have Enda Kenny and strong candidates - they could beat FF.
Anyway, a good Government seems to have been formed in my opinion.
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9 comments:
Hiya John,
Just found your blog online - was searching for stuff on kerry accents and read your post from last july. Came on to the main bit to read your recent post. Was a good read. Congrats to your daughter...!
...John. Your blog is open and amazing. It is nice to touch base with you in a bog as well as photos....always, Robin
Hi Lady Engineer. Thanks for reading and I enjoyed reading some of your own pices too!
Hi Robin. Welcome to my Blog my Flickr pal! I'm sure this one on the aftermath of the Irish general election is bizarre to you in Texas!
The PDs should be ousted. They are good for nothing and proved themselves as such over the past five years. It's not often I would find myself agreeing with the left-wingers but frankly the death of the PDs wouldn't have been mourned by many.
I love your photographs and your stories.
Hi Dario, we'll agree to disagree on that!
Hi Omaani. Thank a lot for that. Sorry for delay in reply.
Thanks for your lovely comment John. Unfortunately as you may have read, life's been topsy turvy for the last few months so I've not been giving my blog the time I want really. Hopefully come the autumn (I know what the next few months hold!) I'll have better time to invest in it and make it more interesting. I'm going to try and link you to my blog if that's ok with you as I think you're entries are very interesting. Ta ta for now!
so any comments on one of the most influential ministries continuing to be held by the PDs?
Hi Lady Engineer and Davida.
Davida... I'm perplexed at how badly the PDs have been doing. I had a lot of respect for Micahel McDowell and have written positively on him in my blogs. I'm now willing to accept that he was not a good leader figure, too confrontational and disliked it seems by many in the public. His method of resignation was bad too, announcing without telling colleagues etc. I suspect he was partly responsible for the downfall of the party. There is a serious possiblity that the PDs will dissolve totally. I've heard Fiona O'Malley mentioned as a possible new leader, I'm afraid I don't rate her much. Mary Harney is a very skilled politician and seemed logical to continue in Dept of Health. I could imagine her joining FF though very easily and I'd be surprised if it was not an option discussed with Bertie during Governemnt formation - at least as her future option.
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