TCD JS Irish Politics class & TCD Department of Political Science
with The Joint Committee on the Constitution of the Houses of the Oireachtas

 

Public consultation @ the Public Theatre (Exam Hall) Trinity College Dublin Tuesday, February 2nd @ 7pm. Ticket only event, places limited, please rsvp at tcdirishpols@gmail.com   DIrections.

 

The Department of Political Science will co-host a public consultation on electoral reform with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution. This is the first time in Trinity’s history that a fully constituted Oireachtas Committee will have sat in Trinity. The formal session of this meeting will be on the official report of the Oireachtas.

 

The first part of the evening will consist of the submissions, presentations and interaction with the twelve cross-party members of the Oireachtas Committee by the students. Only the Irish Politics students will be making a formal submission.

 

The second part of the evening will be a panel discussion on electoral reform chaired by honorary Trinity fellow Dr. John Bowman, joined by Noel Dempsey, Minister for Transport, Professor Ken Benoit, head of the Department of Political Science, Senator Ivana Bacik, Trinity Fellow, Seán Ardagh, Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee, Jim O’Keeffe, Vice Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee,  The Hon. Mr. Justice Frank Clarke and contributions from the audience.

 

Senator Bacik’s contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Committee

Minister Dempsey’s contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Committee

Prof Benoit’s contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Committee

 

 

You are invited to a reception afterwards hosted by the Department of Political Science in the GMB (Graduate Memorial Building)

Facebook page and Facebook group

 

Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore need to convince the public of the radical policies they intend to put forward, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the Irish Times January 19 2010

 

THE RETURN of the Dáil today marks the inauguration of a decade which will commemorate the 100th anniversaries of the 1916 Easter Rising, the seminal 1918 election, the first Dáil and the commencement of the War of Independence. One hundred years later and the national question is no longer one about the fight for political independence, but economic freedom.

 

The gross cost to the exchequer of the banking crisis is estimated at €80 billion when the recapitalisation, nationalisation and Nama-isation of the banking sector are taken into account. The “Ireland after Nama” academic website estimates that there are more than 300,000 vacant houses in ghost estates. Defaults on EBS mortgages are up 487 per cent over the last year. There are 130,000 more people unemployed than this time last year.

 

These are not ordinary times and demand extraordinary responses.

 

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The long-term consequence of ignoring the obvious is, sooner or later, yet another ‘crisis’ in the IRISH TIMES January 12, 2009

 

WHEN SNOW falls heavily, the pressure from the accumulated snow piles up on top of itself. By failing to take immediate action to clear or grit the snow, falling temperatures combine to create the perfect conditions for compacted snow and icy conditions.

 

In the absence of a plan and the wilful approach to ignore the inevitable in the hope of something undefined, a country can come to a standstill. Its schools are shut, water supplies run low, emergency services are overwhelmed and transport services are severely curtailed. The long-term consequence of ignoring the obvious is, sooner or later, paralysis. The everyday normalities of travelling to work, going to the supermarket or feeding animal stock become treacherous.

 

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We cannot fix what is permanently broken – we must fundamentally reconstitute our political and economic systems, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES January 5, 2010

 

THE FIRST Irish Times editorial of 2010 stated that “at least there is a balance to be debated between optimism and pessimism instead of unrelieved gloom”. This is the typical black or white choice presented to those who contribute to public debate. The rules of engagement insist that we must agree or disagree with one another within the confines of a mindset limited to discussing whether the proverbial glass is half-full or half-empty.

 

But what if that glass is already broken?

 

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Icelandic protests about the economic collapse were mobilised by the young through social networking websites in the IRISH TIMES December 29, 2009

 

ICELAND HAS been overwhelmed with civic action movements since its dramatic economic collapse in October of last year. In the beginning, my Icelandic friends went every Saturday afternoon to Austurvöllur Square in central Reykjavík. People just gathered to talk and listen to one another, unsure of what to do but knowing that they had to do something.

 

Like the Iranian protest of last June, the Icelandic demonstrations were mobilised by a young generation communicating with each other in real time through Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites.

 

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THE LAST RTÉ Radio One This Week programme of the decade on Sunday encapsulated much about Irish public life. Three of its four stories dealt with the consequences of secrecy, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES December 22, 2009

 

Tommie Gorman’s searching interview with Gerry Adams unveiled allegations of sexual abuse made by his niece Áine Tyrell against her father, Liam Adams (Gerry’s brother), dating back to 1987. Gerry Adams also revealed that his late father subjected members of his family to sexual, emotional and physical abuse. In what was uncomfortable listening, Adams referred to the “culture of concealment” which prevented the matter being raised before now.

 

The costs of this culture were one also laid bare by the Murphy report into the Dublin archdiocese where “avoidance of scandal, the preservation of the reputations of individuals and of the church, took precedence over the safety and welfare of children”.

 

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THE ECONOMIST magazine recently described Ireland as a “sometimes inward-looking island nation”. Have we become more insular and parochial as a country since the onset of the recession? Has economic insecurity bred introspective short-term sectional thinking? asks ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES December 15, 2009

 

For instance, the run-up to the Budget was dominated by what Colm McCarthy described as the temporary “band-aid” proposals by the unions to cut the public sector pay bill through unpaid leave. The constituency hospital deals promised to Jackie Healy-Rae, Michael Lowry, Jimmy Devins and Eamon Scanlon also grabbed media attention. So too did Noel Grealish’s petition for extra flood relief measures.

 

 

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Page of accounts from a well known public figure in the 1940s.

Can anybody explain what the purpose of the different figures/columns mean to someone without an accountancy background? In particular, I’m confused why there are two sets of figures. For example there is a dividend of £500 and then on the same line there is a figure of £3.2.6. Why are there two different figures?

 

Thanks for your help to date on the above questions. 

 

Some further questions: If £500 is the amount of the investment and £3.2.6 is the dividend, does that mean that the £500 was invested in January 1943 or is it an exisiting investment?

 

Also, under the £500 it says: div £650 do and div £168.19.7 do, are they separate investments for Consolo?

 

Finally, what were Dublin corporation stocks? These accounts also had substantial National Loan stocks from the foundation of the State, when did these end?

 

 

 

Endemic localism and our whip system ends up reducing budget day to a theatrical exercise in parliamentary voting, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES December 8, 2009

 

IT IS of course entirely coincidental that International Anti-Corruption Day falls tomorrow, the same day as budget day. By a quirky twist of fate, tomorrow is also the birthday of the deceased speaker of the US Congress Tip O’Neill, who gave us that enduring phrase: “All politics is local”.

 

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Our subservient way of thinking as a people bestows impunity on those in positions of power in the Irish Times December 1, 2009

 

‘IT IS the deaf people that create the lies.’ Irish proverbs are full of phrases about the power of silence.

 

Fr Donal Gallagher from the Dublin parish of St Peter’s in Phibsboro, horrifically exploited this cancerous Irish culture of saying nothing over a 20 year period.

 

The Dublin diocesan report noted that after Gallagher had finished sexually abusing a girl in the sanctity of the confession box, he would “wash his hands in the altar bowl and dry them with the napkin”. She was nine.

 

 

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