Author Archives: Bodger

This afternoon.

Bawnogue, Deansrath Estate, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald with Dublin Mid West candidates Eoin Ó’Broin (right) and Mark Ward (left) urging the freezing of rents to alleviate the housing crisis.

Ms McDonald said recent polls “reflects the energy and momentum for Sinn Féin and for change”.

 Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews

Meanwhile…

This afternoon.

The Irish Architectural Archive, Merrion Square Dublin 2.

Above from left: Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin, Housing spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan and Duncan Smith, candidate for Fingal, launch the party’s General Election 2020 housing strategy, which includes a proposed rent freeze.

Rollingnews

This morning.

Fine Gael Generel Election HQ.

Above from left: Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Fine Gael Director of Elections, Paschal Donohoe, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Fine Gael candidate for Laois-Offaly, and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate and Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton set out their party’s climate action plans .

OF recent polls, Mr Donohoe said:

“Fianna Fail are putting forward their worst hits of their recent past and what Sinn Fein are offering is the kind of ideas that will do such harm to workers income, to wages and to their jobs.

“They have claimed they are going to put forward new ideas for investment involving 15 different tax hikes – tax hikes that would be bad for those at work, tax hikes that would be bad for those looking to create jobs.”

Meanwhile….


This morning.

Fianna Fáil General Election 2020 HQ, Dublin.

Fianna Fáil Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath (above left) and Health Spokesperson Stephen Donnelly begin the last week of the General Election campaign.

Of Sinn Fein’s poll rise, Mr McGrath said:

“In the real world, people change their behaviour, they make investment decisions depending on the change in taxation and enterprise landscape in the country.

“Sinn Fein want to make this a very cold place for business. They want to tax employment through increasing PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance), they want to tax people over 100,000 euro under the pretence that won’t affect anybody below 100,000 euro.”

RollingNews

Sure.

Sexist pig.

This afternoon.

Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Members of Active Retirement Ireland and Age Action brew up outside the Dail as they call for parties in the General Election to appoint a senior minister for older people and ensure pension reform:

‘We want the next Government not to introduce the planned increase in the pension age to 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2027 because of the disjointed and poor approach to planning which is disproportionately impacting on older people.’

Put Older People at the Heart of the Next Government (Active Retirement Ireland)

Active Retirement Ireland

RollingNews

Tabulations of the state of the main parties following six national opinion polls. Tables include estimates of how these votes would translate into seats.

After six national polls since the General Election was called.

How do things stand?

Via RTE, Michael Marsh, a Professor of Comparative Political Behaviour and a Fellow of Trinity College,  writes:

The table above shows where these trends leave the parties at present, with Fianna Fáil marginally ahead of Sinn Féin, 23.5% to 22.5%, and Fine Gael in third place with 20%. Green lead the rest with 8.5%.

It is striking that the combined Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael vote is less than 44%, the lowest we have seen at any point since polling began, and a long way below the figure of 65% seen in 2017.

Sinn Féin’s rise is also remarkable, well up on its polling before Christmas and more than twice its local election vote last year, normally a good guide to the next election.

One unusual feature here is that Sinn Féin is fielding fewer candidates (42) than the number of seats it might be expected to win on its poll of polls vote. (It is not just commentators who are surprised at these poll numbers!)

The prediction of 42 seats here is almost certainly too high, but if the party did win 22% of the vote, the likelihood is that it would have enough votes to win two seats in several places where it is fielding only one candidate.

The most important feature is that the largest party, Fianna Fáil, is expected to win well short of even the 50 seats won by Fine Gael in 2016. This would present severe problems for Micheál Martin when trying to form a government.

And with Fine Gael only on just 34, even a historic break with the past in the form of a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael coalition might not solve the problem.

Their combined seat total would be short of the 80 seats needed for a majority, although the most positive estimates for both would sum to 79….

Poll of polls: No clear result in sight (Michael Marsh, RTÉ)

Yesterday: Sinnderella Story

‘Quattro Colori’ 

A trailer for a bruising new documentary by Donal Moloney on Calcio Storico – an ancient form of football from the 16th century with teams of 27 a side, using both feet and hands.

The president of Calcio Storico called it the “greatest ever” documentary made about their sport following a recent screening in Florence, Italy.

Donal says:

The 73 minute documentary will now do the festival tour before it becomes available to the general public. It’s a totally Irish production. Myself and two others shot the entire movie over a 7 month period. It’s a self funded labour of love…

In fairness.

‘Quattro Colori’ will have its first Irish screening at the Fastnet Film Festival [May20-24] in Schull, County Cork where one of the main Calciante/players will also be involved in a post-screening  Q&A.

Donal Moloney

This morning.

Clonskeagh, Dublin 14.

Cormac writes:

I wonder what contributed to this telecom pole blowing over last night? Leaving a near invisible phone line neck height across the footpath?

Any physics/maths person want to figure out the pushing force x4 AO pieces of rigid card added to the top of a not new, 30 foot high, 14″ wide, wooden pole?

Anyone?

Miller’s Pizza Kitchen, Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 2

Saturday.

Mmf.

Miller’s Pizza Kitchen (Facebook)