‘It’s the economy, stupid,” has become one of the most famous political phrases of the past few decades. It is attributed to James Carville, the motor-mouthed political strategist who helped mastermind President Bill Clinton’s 1992 bid for the White House. While it still has some considerable resonance, another famous quote from Carville seems even more

As we watch the developments in Greece and the pressure being applied by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy on Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and the Greek government, we should reflect on the fact that one year ago, it was us in the firing line. Back then, the EU’s less than dynamic duo decided that

If you told me a month or two ago that Fianna Fail would come second in the Dublin West constituency I would have thought you were mad. In fairness, I would have had some evidence for that belief. Back at the general election in February, the late Brian Lenihan came fourth behind Labour, Fine Gael

By this day next week we will know who our next President is. Despite the polls in recent days, I remain convinced that the outcome is still uncertain. There has been considerable volatility in the polls in recent weeks, with voters seriously considering almost all the contenders at various points. It is as if Newton’s

I had originally intended to use this week’s column to look at how the presidential election campaign was going. I had planned to throw my eye quickly over the seven candidates, their campaigns and maybe even their chances, with just around 10 days to go. But then I heard the near hissy fit thrown by

IT has been a week of good news and bad news. No, I am not talking about the prospects for the various presidential election candidates. While it was a week of some interesting poll results, I intend to wait another week or so before talking in depth about the race for the Park. The good

It is now over two months since the Heads of Government of the eurozone countries met together at a special summit on July 21. Their task was clear: to show the international markets that the EU was determined to defend and protect the euro. To achieve this, they needed to do a lot more than

The Dail session which started last Wednesday might prove itself to be one of the most important and crucial sittings this Government has during its term. Though it has now been in power for just over six months, the Government has yet to flesh out, in any great detail, how it proposes to tackle the

LOOK up ‘urgent’ in any standard dictionary and it will offer definitions such as ‘compelling’ or ‘requiring immediate action or attention’. Peruse the concise Noonan-Kenny lexicon and you find such turgid phrases as ‘interdepartmental groups’ and ‘no definite timeline’. Their dictionary is small. In it, ‘cleanliness’ is actually next to ‘godliness’. The Government’s massive majority