They are watching us - from a distance

What did I do? I noticed when doing the usual old trawl through my stats that I had a visit from a genuinely interesting place in the form of the Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate. All are more than welcome to visit and contribute, just don't be expecting me to stop watching The Daily show, cos I won't God damn it.

URuGuAY

Did you know that there are 202,000,000 matches for URuGuAY in google but 365,000,000 for Ireland? And the difference can't be all down to entries for Stephen Ireland's bebo page.

Like the turning of the leaves and the resurgent urge to finally turn the gas on in the evenings RTe visits us with portents of economic doom and despair - David McWilliams is back on our screens. At least Dickens had the decency to leave the morose stuff until Christmas when we could get drunk and vent at the relations about our lot in life. Dear old Dave is at us before we've lost our fake tans.

This time out he is telling us about what he terms "The generation game" whereby the property market has enriched the old at the expense of the young and allowed us all to think that the Celtic Kitty is still purring along nicely when it is in fact the burrowing and munching of a teeming bellyful maggots that is creating the low hum. now, I don't fundamentally disagree with the lad but did he actually have to go to China to find out there are loads of people there, that it's dirt cheap compared to here and that oh man but are some of the ladies tasty - ok I was noticing that last bit all on my own. Won't someone think of the planet? One thing that doesn't get mentioned too much is if the lads on the factory floor in the middle kingdom screw up you can't sue them worth a damn.

In terms of the rest of the presentation, I have to wonder what the bright spark in the development in Ongar was thinking when they thought it a good idea to be letting David and pals sneer about their apartment development. And I thought that there must be something more behind the fact that the Uruguayan collapse than just that they couldn't make cows as cheaply anymore and the "do you feel Irish" comment to Conrad O'Neill that mets the ear. We might find out next week, at least it fits in more naturally to the RTe comedy profile for Monday nights than Prosperity.

Bertie Ahern "Liar in Chief" - Sue me.

So it turns out that Bertie has being lying all along in the lead up to the tribunal, he told everyone who would listen and many who preferred to have the chance not to that he had fully cooperated with the tribunal, that he was eager to get into it and have his day in court so to speak. As we have seen over the last 2 days that is emphatically not the case, he has dragged his feet on every occasion, he asked that the tribunal only look at his accounts from 89-92 when they were in fact dormant as a consequence of his separation and his lawyers asked on his behalf that only amounts over 30,000 should be examined. That would hardly constitution full and fair disclosure if he were in the business of selling houses.

It is worth noting that when you consider all the months and months it apparently took Bertie and pals to unearth all those tedious details about his bank accounts that right from the "get go" (as our American cousins would say) he and his lawyers were adamant that the threshold should be 30K. How did they come to pick this monetary sum unless they in fact knew that he made it a habit to deal only in the amounts less than this figure.

So let me be quite plain about this Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach of Ireland, has lied and he has lied about his lying. It's time for the truth. If Bertie can prove otherwise let him sue me.

Ripoff Art.E

The recent coverage of the proposed new statue / scuplture by Antony Gormley has missed a basic fact, it's not new at all. It is one he did earlier and in Ireland too. I should say I rather like the Angel of the North, or the "what the fuck is that?" as it was known for the first few months of its life.

Look at this forlorn lad, head downcast, hands by his side. He is known locally as the Rusty Man and is set in the plaza of UL.



and then look at the proposed chap standing in the Liffey



It's the exact same frigging dude, down to the stance and the hands in the pockets about to mooch a fag look. A moppy looking student type is all well and good hanging around the plaza in UL but standing next to the quays in Dublin peering down the blouses of our tourists?

The strange thing is that yet again something that is meant to be about the docklands as a new area bringing together the north and south of the city ends up turning his rather ample arse to the northside. Now what we should really get is something like this spanning the river!



Come on you know you'd like it. And those things do look like cool sabres or should that be sabers? Hmm....

Why Aer Lingus is right

Aer Lingus are dead right to pull out of Shannon on a commercial basis, they have a finite amount of resources in particular slots into Heathrow and it is their responsibility to their shareholders that they seek to maximise the profit that can be derive from those resources.

So within those boundaries the Aer Lingus management have been consistent with what one would expect a public company. Those boundaries of course were set by the previous owners who in the unique environment of a privatisation had a chance to lay down some markers to shape the company's business into the future and indeed by retaining a significant share holding suggested, publicly at least, that they would continue to be active shareholders. Much along the lines of ethical shareholding whereby people use their portfolio to patronise certain types of business over others. The term "Golden Share" was pointedly used by the government over the course of the company being floated. I'm not sure for whom this share is now Golden, it sure ain''t the customers in the West and Mid-West, unless we're to look to the world of adult entertainment for inspiration.

Fact is that it isn't the decision that Aer Lingus has made that should be the focus of people's ire but instead the manner of the privatisation of the airline along with the Heathrow slots which has placed Aer Lingus in this situation. Yet, who has been asking the hard questions along those lines?

We're had RTe favouring the local FF apparatus in terms of coverage, yet never asking them what they personally had proposed or contributed during the Dail debates on the privatisation of the airline to ensure that the management couldn't make this type of decision. We've had no legal opinion produced by the government that demonstrates why some means to retain control of the Heathrow slots in the state's hands while floating the rest of the company.

The people of the Mid-West voted for FF in overwhelming numbers despite no significant inward investment into the region over the past number of years. And why are they treated so poorly you might wonder? Basically my view is if you continuously turn the other cheek you end up black and blue. I hate to use the analogy as it may suggest to some that I'm making light of a very serious social issue but much of the Irish electoral population behaves like an abused spouse, making excuses for why they are mistreated, continually turning blind eye to every indiscretion and persisting with a steadfast belief in every half arsed reason for why it happened this time and how next time will be different, and accepting that the other lot would be worse. Or so they are told.

As Fintan O'Toole has pointed out people get what they vote for; the fact that they don't bother to pay that much attention isn't really the politicians fault. In a democracy it is the voters who are ultimately the ones pulling the strings.

It isn't that people are thick just that they think they have more money than sense. What's the betting that we see an ex-FFer running as an independent in the Mid-West come the next general election on a platform of returning Aer Lingus to Shannon and the neglect of the region? And that we'll see the promise of one route into Heathrow in time for the 2009 locals.

Finally a minister speaks out!

Look at the latest wheeze from the government that can't bring itself to comment on the pull out of Aer Lingus from Shannon.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0815/breaking40.htm

Mary Hanafin, minister for Education, wants to split maths! into business maths and science maths (the suggestion that we might have two Irish exams for the leaving has previously left the minister aghast at the concept).

Quoting from the article “The Minister said there are students who are very good at science and students who are very good at business. “Why do they both have to do the same maths paper when you can have a little twist on it that can make it more accessible?” ”

Yep that’s the answer to all our problems because 2+2 doesn’t necessary add up to 4 in the business world. Indeed it could be special type of maths where you can get a formula where £30,000 could really be $45,000, or Ir£28,000 4 shillings and sixpence or whatever the lodgement was.

There is a serious problem in Ireland with the teaching of maths and science but this approach is all about indulging a mindset that say "hard" Maths for weirdos not normal people who get to get sexy jobs and get rich. What next - maths for girls?

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060610/bob8.asp

Brainy 8-year-old Lisa Simpson is delighted until she attends the girls' math class. "How do numbers make you feel?" the teacher begins. "What does a plus sign smell like? Is the number 7 odd or just different?" Aghast, Lisa poses as a boy to attend the ghettolike boys' school, where real maths is being taught.

Or perhaps we will split Art at Leaving Cert into Art and Art for the tasteless.

The prancing of political geldings

Over the last week or so since the decision of Aer Lingus management to pull out of the Shannon Heathrow, we've witnessed the energetic prancing of political geldings, figures of local and national prominence, minister junior and senior and TDs new and old all giving it loads in front of the cameras and at public meetings but no sign that they will do anything in the Dail when it resumes. I think a vote of no confidence in Dempsey is certainly in order, and I would question the resolve of some of the mid-West TDs to exercise some basic follow through on this issue.

Good examples of the prancing ponies are Tony Killeen telling us that Aer Lingus will be feeling the pressure on the PR side of things - FYI they're pulling out Tony what does it matter to them what people down here think if they are no longer doing business here, Niall Collins telling us on PrimeTime that we should be stepping back. I haven't been too wildly impressed with the contributions of Pat Breen of FG either, taking almost all his time on PrimeTime before getting to the nub of the issue which is the connection to a hub which is what Heathrow is, this is not about getting to London, it is about getting to Heathrow.

This is what Minister Cullen (sure don't we miss him now!) had to say in 2005 about ensuring Irish consumers would have access to Heathrow post the government reducing its stake. So what were the options explored and why were they not proceeded with? Was someone misled here was it the minister or the public?

I'm surprised no one has made this comparison of journeys, say your intention is to get a flight in Heathrow on to some other location say for example Tokyo (I hear it is a bit of a backwater place that is transforming itself into an up and coming place of international business), you leave Castletroy to be in Shannon at least 1 hour before the flight which only takes under an one hour but you can allow about one hour to get from from Terminal 1 to your gate in another Terminal in Heathrow. Because in the current situiation with Aer Lingus doing a code share your luggage makes its own way across the airport, and you (the person travelling) are already checked through.So you arrive at the gate in good time and calm and collected all only 3 hours or so after you left the house.

In the new situation if you fly with RyanAir you will have to wait around and collect you luggage before moving off to the next Terminal but in this case you will be crossing London instead of justr crossing an airport with 3 train journeys from Stansted into Liverpool St, then the tube then the train from Paddington out to Heathrow. None of those changes is for the faint-hearted. I guess Dempsey is so used to have someone else carry his luggage for him that he doesn't remember what travel is like for the little people. And how long would you need to allow for you to cross from Gatwick/Stansted to Heathrow 3 hours allowance wouldn't be crazy (2 hours would be cutting it very fine indeed) and remember you have to be at the check-in desk 2 hours before departure as unlike the existing model you aren't already checked through. So you would be presenting yourself at the gate 7 hours after you left the door of house. Some time difference there I'm sure you will agree.

I would suggest that local business should sponsor a trip by two people accompanied by the press, with video capability to demonstrate the different paths they will have to take to get to a flight going from Heathrow to Tokyo. They would be two very different journeys I reckon and a good example of why telling people that they can still get to London is patronising.

I do know from talking to some folks at the college in UL that one big problem would be that staff use Heathrow as a location for meetings with people from other European universities. As it is a hub it is much easier to a few people to fly there and have the meeting and fly home without ever leaving the airport than to be flying to another location and staying overnight some place.

For students in UL, Euramus in particular I can foresee quite a lot of problem with access and this must move UL down the pecking order for choice locations. And speaking more internationally it will be a problem for those coming from Asia particularly China which is viewed a as a huge stragegic opportunity for Ireland.

I would also think that the decentralisation of the Overseas development staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs must now be seriously at risk. You can hardly move the staff to a place that doesn't have direct access to one of the major airline hubs.

More on Puck ar buizer

I wrote this to Madam in response to a letter from Dr. Mick Loftus in last Saturday's Irish Times

Madam, -

As a proud son of Puck, I challenge Dr. Loftus to produce evidence
that supports his outrageous implication in his letter of July 28th
that Killorglin has a disproportion rate of homicides, road traffic
deaths, rapes and suicides as a consequence of hosting Puck Fair.

As a former coroner I would have expected Dr. Loftus to base his
argument on the particular facts of the case rather than producing a
generalised rant impugning the reputation of the town I grew up in.
Dr. Loftus’ failure to wait until he had read the facts before
forming his opinion is exemplified by his misquoting of Judge
O’Connor as saying he had “walked the streets of
Caherciveen at 2.30am and observed no thuggery” when the judge
had explicitly referred to Killorglin in the report of July 20th.

The Gardai are not Killorglin Gardai as Dr. Loftus states but rather
the district authorities for the region as Killorglin, in contrast to
Caherciveen, is serviced by a mere “Green Man” for the
much of the time. The concerns of the Gardai appear more directed at
operational and budgetary concerns regarding overtime than any real
concerns about a higher rate of crime during the festival. Had it
been otherwise they would have produced the statistics in court to
back up their argument. As they did not, it is not.

Puck Fair in contrast to many other summer festivals is a working
fair. Considerable entertainment is laid on in the open air; yet the
nature of the Irish summer means much of the craic and ceol is
naturally to be found indoors. I would contend that if the
arrangement agreed 31 years ago which saw the introduction of 3am
closing at Puck is to be revisited at all then a return to the
original situation whereby pubs could open continuously for the full
3 days should be given consideration. What is needed in addressing
alcohol abuse is not the simplistic abstention versus overindulgence
argument that Dr. Loftus is espousing but a renewal of the practice
of social drinking; where drinking is not the purpose of the
socialisation but something that merely accompanies it.

I would ask the good Dr. to apologise to the people of Killorglin and
I would urge people to come to Puck and enjoy the craic; with or
without a drink but always with a smile.

Would you ever Puck off?

I read this piece (more below) in the Irish Times last week and wondered if the Supt might not be right and perhaps the 3am closing time for the 3 nights of Puck should be revisited. Yeah revisited and returned to the original format by which there was not closing of the pubs in Killorglin at all for 3 whole days!

Anne Lucey in Cahersiveen

An attempt by gardaí to have the traditional 3am pub hours extension for Puck Fair in Killorglin reduced by one hour was refused by Cahersiveen District Court yesterday.

The court was told it took "a considerable" Garda presence in Killorglin to prevent drink-related, late-night public order incidents during the fair.

Supt Michael O'Donovan said he was objecting to the traditional application by vintners for exemption orders to 3am. He said the 3am opening was unique to Puck Fair, was in place for 31 years and it was time to look at it. His application was to reduce it by an hour in line with other fairs and festivals in the county and in the country. The judge refused the application.

Street entertainment finished at 11pm during Puck Fair, the superintendent said. "Nothing beyond that time other than to consume alcohol takes place. There should be something other than the consumption of alcohol, particularly in the current climate. Consuming alcohol between 11pm and 3am without entertainment surely has to be looked at," he argued.

12 gardaí and two sergeants were drafted into Killorglin from outside the district to work at night, alongside the Cahersiveen district gardaí, he told Judge James O'Connor.

Domestic violence incidents also arose during the fair. The application for a series of exemptions, including early morning openings, was made by Killorglin publican Paul Kingston on behalf of some 22 publicans in Cromane and Killorglin.

Solicitor for the vintners, Tim O'Shea, said music sessions took place in most pubs. Extra policing was required not because of any alcohol problem but because of the sheer numbers of people in the town.

Declan Mangan, chairman of Puck Fair, told the court the fair was an excellent well run festival, worth up to €10 million to Killorglin, Killarney and mid-Kerry.

"Drink is only part of the festival," Mr Mangan said.

Publican Declan Falvey said a substantial number of pubs depended on the festival for vital income. Up to 400 extra people were employed by publicans because of the fair.

Judge O'Connor said no statistics had been produced to the court by gardaí. He himself had been to the fair "once or twice" for the whole of the three days. Last year walking the street at about 2.30am "I saw no thuggery", the judge said.

The State was benefiting from the revenue from drinks sales and taxes from the extra employment. It would not be fair to deprive pubs of a "vital hour".

It was totally wrong to say there was no entertainment.People made their own and this including "belting out" songs such as Barr na Sráide, the judge remarked.

Thanks to everyone

I'm immensely gratified that nearly 400 people gave me a vote, the vast majority of whom I have never had the chance to meet. I really appreciate it. The fight goes on, but I think I will take a bit of break from the politicking for a while.

All over bar the shouting

and God knows there will be plenty enough of that.

I would like to thank everyone that voted for me, and those who couldn't vote but who were hugely helpful throughout the process. It has been a long old road since last September but it hasn't been that lonely a journey.

I got some opportunities to raise the issue of the residential charges in the public consciousness and while it may not yet have borne fruit it is something I will persist with. The money been collected is neither needed nor does the logic of applying it to the disabled as if they were the same as the elderly hold up.

I do feel I've been successful to a degree because the issue of extending the franchise has been something that most candidates haven't felt they could ignore. Now that is by no means solely down to my presence in the race (guess I'm showing my main failing as a politician by not claiming complete credit for something I had a mostly tangential involvement with) but even if my being around was responsible for just one or two extra nudges in the right direction then I say it was worthwhile having someone impacted by the ongoing failure to act on this issue in the race.

As to the possible results well, at this stage it ranges from very hard to nigh on impossible to say what the likely outcome might be. We could yet be surprised that the presence of so many entrants will mean a great deal of the valid poll will have just voted their top 2/3 and left it at that. Or maybe that the vote will be incredibly evenly scattered amongst the various candidates or perhaps that the incumbents are abandoned by their electorate and 3 completely new people are installed. I reckon at the absolute limit we might get two new members of the Seanad from the NUI panel but much more likely is that the status quo will remain the same. A pity after all the huffing and puffing from all the little piggies but I guess in this case the 3 little pigs have houses built of the same material - ongoing national press coverage.

I'll have to give Naoise a shout at some point during the day to find out about when it is considered prudent and polite to ask for a recount. After all, his experience in the 2004 battle for Clontarf has to be worth something.

Again, a big thank you to everyone that voted for me, those who just considered it and those for whom the idea of voting for me gave them nightmares. Remember, I could be back.

Seanad Vote for sale on ebay

I was sent on a link by someone to the Sale of a Seanad Vote on ebay.ie

Even more peculiar is that I can't report this to ebay without registering with ebay.ie which frankly I'm not interested in doing. They look for my phone number if I were to register yet they have no listing themselves in Ireland. I've taken screenshots so Mr dermotthegreat, you can't just remove it and skulk away. And I've mailed a few people in the 4th estate but the newspapers would be put to bed by now.

I recognise that for a great portion of people the Seanad and all who sail in it are something of a joke, but the right to vote is a pretty basic idea that I would expect every citizen to have some respect for. I'm genuinely disgusted.

If you're voting for me, you might think about voting for these folks too.

I'm in no position to ordering people about the place with regard to who they should be voting for. Below and above are the people that through the course of the campaign have impressed and for whom I'd be voting in no particular order if I had a vote.
Valerie Bresnihan - I believe her reform intents are more genuine. And she has a rounded agenda.

Paddy Healy - as someone from DIT whose colleagues and student is more directly impacted by the issues around the franchise I believe he would more of a effort. I don't agree with him re: benchmarking though.

Martina Lowe - someone with a disability who is also working in the area someone with a different perspective who would be able to articulate it. No shrinking violet and no token either.

Brendan Price - in the words of aul Sammy Beckett someone who is willing to get in there "kicking against the pricks".

Liam Crowley - I know he's FF but what harm someone from Puck in the Seanad?

John Kennedy - ah sure true enough he's a member of Young Fine Gael but of the rest he's the least worst.

Those would be

Just missing the cut

Linda O'Shea Farren - capable but I'm not sure what she is all about

The trio of incumbents, able gents but why no action on voting rights over the last 15 years? Where's the Bill you could have introduced?

In the absence of conflict people talk about process

I find it curious that in a large field that so many of the candidates talk about the state of the register as if that was the be all and end all of why they decided to run. As if they had no policies or other issues that they had wanted to talk about.

Those of us in the race, and the sadder (note you're just more sad than we are) anoraks not involved in any campaigns yet who are actually paying attention, know that it is just not true. Quite a few of the candidates have sincerely held and interesting topics that they wanted to raise. Yet why are most of the articles in the press about the process?

Part of the problem is that this paucity of opportunity for real debate amongst the candidates actually leads to the lack of interest on the part of the public. After all a candidate can talk and talk all they want but it is the contest of a debate that really engages the public. Or put more simply people will stop to watch a fight. If only the was some media outlet that was willing to take a punt on this.

Yet it looks likely that the last week will see yet more focus on the process and in particular the register. The presence of dead people on the NUI register is a comparatively straightforward problem to resolve. People have to be registered as dead (not by themselves naturally) and surely this can be electronically conveyed to those compiling the various registers on a regular enough basis. Of course if Bob Romson has moved house and then dead without telling anyone then it is not necessary going to be that easy to remove him from the register.

A single register compiled by the electoral commission via data returned from the local authorities would seem to be the simplest way to go. All and any changes to this register should be done using the norms of source control common in the software industry whereby comments are entered for all changes and a track kept of who made the changes. Now you there - stop laughing at the back - this is what should be the norm in the software industry yet as we all know often the comments are "bug fixed", it isn't that hard to tell those entering the changes that if the reasons included in their comments to justify the change can't be substantiated that they will be fired for not doing their job. That might increase compliance.

For those living in Ireland it shouldn't be that hard to have a box on the regular general election registration form to allow someone to indicate that they are NUI graduates and thereafter for the NUI to seek proof of this. In essence we simply merge the registers.

It is deeply ironic that someone who is a member of the main party in government for the last ten years and is their candidate for one of the panels is complaining about dead people being on the register when the normal general election register can't ensure that dead people are removed in a timely fashion.

Why is Sean O'Connor a hue and cry about this? Because he knows the press want to write about the process in order to regurgitate their articles from the last election talking about what a waste the Seanad is. In order to distract from the more substantive issues that might otherwise have gotten an airing during the course of the campaign. There is less than a week left and you bet the only stories you will see will be about the register and who has appeared on what website.

Since that it all the press willing to report then I'm going to join them briefly. Isn't registered post is an odd way to distribute ballots papers for these in employment? Though the suggrstion again from Sean O'Connor that we use SMS for voting and couriers for delivering the paper ballots makes me wonder if he knows that couriers cost more than An Post and they too require you to be home to sign for your package.

The old system was probably fine as a system of sending out the ballots back when most graduates were menfolk who worked 9-5 while the woman of the house worked at home and the postman (and it was a man) was happy enough to let her sign for the ballot. These days most graduates male and female are working long enough hours that the postal system could have replaced the postman with a post cougar and it would decades before any of them noticed, Many post offices do not open at weekends to allow people to collect their registered post. In fact it might be considered a minor miracle that the turnout is as high as it is. Given that anyone can sign the validation slip won't it make it easier if the ballots were just sent in regular post and then you had to drop in somewhere with ID over the course of the 4/5 weeks like a post office or Garda station to cast the ballot and then drop it into the post?

Campaign clip

Rather basic Youtube effort from moi.

You can link by copying the link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAdsFRTurWI

Honestly, it is a bit slapped together.

Other media pieces

That article that was in the Irish Examiner on June 30th last.

National Executive Council

I believe that like any party or large organisation Fine Gael needs to be in a constant state of renewal and reinvigoration in order to ensure that we're not faced with a sudden gap in experience.

The party has come a considerable distance since 2002 but it must retain as its immediate aim revisiting the levels of support enjoyed in the early 80s. In order to do that we must understand that the world and Ireland is markedly different to the late 1970s and early 1980s. People believe less in hierarchy, top down management and more in personal involvement in decision making. That is not nor should it be seen as a problem of us, it is in fact an opening for a party and people that believe in self reliance and personal initiative. Only when those who can provide for themselves do so can we ensure that the necessary resources exist to assist those that need help whether that help is great or small.

I believe that the greatest strength of the party lies, as it always has, in the membership. I would wish to see greater use made of the expertise of the members. We have many members whose professional experience covers many areas such as the spheres of education, medicine, engineering, accounting, and law amongst others. These are people who could assist for example in the assessment of policy to see if the assumptions made are correct and could also lend more formally towards the direction of the party. There is also the expertise that one develops from one's life experience and understanding of one's locality that can inform and shape policies so that they are appropriate, targeted and focused on getting results and not on simply being seen to do 'something'.

That is in large party why I'm standing for the national executive. I genuinely believe, though I recognise it is not very fashionable to say so, that some members really are interested in politics! We should never shy away from an open discussion of ideas. We must become our own strongest proving ground. We must foster a climate of openness and encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to join the party.

I would not wish to be elected simply for the sake of it.

The 2009 Ard Fheis is taking place over the course of April 3rd and 4th in the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. The elections for the Executive Council will be held on the afternoon of the Saturday between 1 and 4 pm. There are three places for the Dublin region to be filled.

In seeking election I am not running against anyone but rather am seeking to stand for Fine Gael, to serve the party to the best of my ability. I have not contested the elections for Executive Council before. I have consistently sought to contribute to the work of the party at all levels, whether as an ordinary member, prospective public representative, branch or constituency officer or as a founding member of the Executive Council IT committee.

My involvement in Fine Gael goes back to my membership of Young Fine Gael growing up in Kerry in the very early 1980s. They were trying times; much as we are faced with today. I am passionate about politics and Fine Gael, I always have been. As a Fine Gael member I have held a number of positions at branch and constituency level, secretary, branch organizer/PRO, constituency policy officer. I always had the privilege of being a candidate in Artane, an election where FG outpolled FF. I’m a straight talker, and will not shirk from debating in any forum for the party.

I may be known to some of you but I’m sure not to all. I hope that I will have the chance to change that. I have appreciated the opportunity to meet with people at local election conventions and to talk to the members and listen to their concerns. I believe that we can make greater use of the expertise of the membership in the scrutinising of policy and in developing our message. I believe that the changes in communications and information technology make possible a new political environment wherein Fine Gael can excel. But we can only excel if we make it a priority to be be open and confident in our message. We must never shy away from engaging with people though their opinions may differ from ours. This is after all at it's most basic a contest of ideas.

Beyond politics, I’ve worked as technical project manager and academic researcher in the IT sector and because of my background I am able to bring a methodical, results orientated approach to the work of the Fine Gael organisation. I believe that internal elections such as this offer an opportunity for our party to renew itself from within. I would appreciate your support in the form of your No.1 vote, or next available preference at the Ard Fheis.

Again my thanks for your time in reading this, and my thanks for your vote.

I'm not me, I'm someone else and he's gone with me too.

First he was a socialist and look how well that worked out for Joe Higgins now he is an independent. Guess BA wants to get rid of all of them too. Pictured in the various broadsheets today are two of the top 3rd level candidates, well top of the class in standing next the people while maintain they aren't supportive of them at all, at all. At least Sean O'Connor can bring himself to admit being a member of FF while Dr. Hillery deems anything more than admitting to just being that way inclined when it comes to FF as been much too revealing.

With independents like these who needs parties! I'm reminded of that line from Blackadder goes Forth, now how does it go? Ah yes.

Look, I'm as British as Queen Victoria.

Edmund: So your father's German, you're half German, and you married a German?

Recent media

Most of the line up all had a go on the Tonight with Vincent Browne show on Wednesday night. Truth be told it was a bit of a mess of a show (or a frakking zoo to be more accurate about it) which to be fair wasn't entirely Vincent's fault. I can't help think that most members of the public listening to it wouldn't be inclined to vote for any of us for villege ratcatcher.

Prior to that I was out at RTe for Q & A on Monday and got to ask a question, The Blair Years, a missed opportunity or a master class in modern politics?. I would like to say I was fabulous but I'm too honest for that.

Clear breach of data protection act as Tanaiste seeks to interfere in Seanad election.

Dan Sullivan, an NUI Seanad panel candidate, has lodged a formal complaint with the Data protection office after it was revealed in the Irish Times that the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, had circulated a letter within FF giving electronic access to the NUI panel register containing the personal educational details of over 100,000 graduates of the NUI.

Dan a UL graduate originally from Killorglin, Co. Kerry, seeking to highlight the failure to extend the franchise to those outside TCD and NUI and is also campaigning to oppose the HSE’s introduction of residential charges for disabled adults attempting to live independently. His campaign information is available at www.missteps.ie

Only now that the main government party fears they might lose their majority in the Seanad are they falling over their own legislation in order to reach out to NUI graduates.

“It is remarkable that Fianna is now so concerned about making contact with graduates when it could have put in place measures such as allowing the revenue to send registration forms to graduates based on the PPS/RSI numbers that the colleges have on record.” said Dan. “The government has had plenty of opportunities to fix the register but it is only now that they are fighting for their own political lives that they can be bothered to do anything. “

It is also suggested by minister Cowen that the register be retained by local Fianna Fail members of use in constituency business perhaps including targeted mails shots to graduates when the next local elections come. The government really appear to think that the personal records of Irish citizens are theirs to do with as they wish in order for them to win office. Allowing people to have copies of a confidential document to peruse at their leisure and for their own enjoyment is act of gross misconduct

The NUI itself has not made the register available in this manner online because of concerns about secure access. The NUI should seek to recover the files in the possession of Fianna Fail and if possible access their histories to see if they can ascertain whose copy of the register it is and action must be taken to sanction that those involved. If I had circulated the register in this fashion I would be subject to sanction.

It is a clear breach of the documented understanding under which NUI Seanad panel candidates were allowed to purchase copies of the register for a fee of €149. It would seem that in addition to a breach of data protection legislation that Fianna Fail may also have infringed on the copyright of the documents involved. “Fianna Fail passing around for free what others candidates had to pay for in order to cover the cost of maintaining the registers is pretty rich in my view “, said Dan.

It is even more peculiar that someone would have passed these documents on to a marketing company who it was reported in the Sunday Times sought €5,000 as a “modest” sum for updating and maintaining the register. A feat that could be done for no cost if the data held by the colleges was reconciled with that held by the revenue. It is also unclear what future use the marketing company will put the register to. The findings of the analysis of the register carried out by a direct marketing company would imply that the government should have thought about addressing the real issues with the register rather than mere titillation over people from the early 1900s being on the register.

This matter is made all the more serious as the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is part of the department of finance, and the letter has been sent by the Minister for Finance. It would seem when the rules are hard or inconvenient the first reaction of the government is to ignore them.

While one of the FF candidates, Sean O’Connor has spent his time and connections with the press making great play of the presence of people who are most likely dead on the register, there has been comparatively little attention given to the decreasing numbers of graduates being added to the register year on year despite the considerable increase in those graduating. In recent years the increase in numbers on the register is around one thousand per year for the entire NUI, yet UCD alone is graduating four times that number each year.

Many candidates are operating with limited finances and have to account for all donations and services rendered to us. Distributing work such as tracking down graduates would be something we would have to pay for, yet Fianna Fail are farming it out to their membership to the benefit of their selected candidates while make no record of the donation of such work.

It would seem appropriate that the lead FF candidates Dr. John Hillery and Sean O’Connor who were intended to be the prime beneficiaries of this intrusion into people’s person record should now consider withdrawing from the Seanad races for TCD and NUI.

ENDS

Yes, it reads weird but I've sent this out as press release to one or two people and will send it more widely tomorrow morning. However you, dear readers, get it first.