Elected Leas Cathaoirleach

At the first meeting of the new Council on Friday 19th June 2009 I was immensely privileged to be elected as Leas Cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for the forthcoming year. I look forward to assisting my constitutents and the citizens of the whole County in my new role.

Elected to the Council

The final result was declared not long before midnight on Saturday 6th June 2009. With 1687 first preference votes I came third on the first count, and reached the quota on the 7th count when I was declared elected to the third seat for the Stillorgan Ward. Exhaustion since then explains the delay in posting the result!

Thanks!

We had an enjoyable election today yesterday; the highlight being a walkabout at Stillorgan Shopping centre with Eamon Gilmore TD, Party Leader, and Alex White, Dail Candidate (see picture).

Now that the election is over and the votes are cast (albeit before we know the result) my overwhelming sensation, apart from exhaustion and relief, is one of gratitude.

I am grateful to the people of the Stillorgan Ward for their courtesy to me during the campaign and in particular to the many people who have given me their No 1 vote, whether on a personal or party basis.

I am grateful to the Labour Party members in the Mount Merrion/Kilmacud and Pat Upton/ Michael O'Riordan/UCD Branches for nominating me to run, particularly my proposer Fionnuala Richardson and my seconder Brendan Lynch.

My team has been fantastic, above all my campaign manager Neal Lamb, who I could not have lived without during the last 9 months. My supporters, extended family and friends have been unstinting in their support and assistance and I am very grateful to them. I have also received great support from the wider Labour Party, the Leader, parliamentarians, councillors, members and staff. I have worked closely with Alex White who ran a great campaign in less than ideal circumstances.

Finally I also thank those involved in the administration of the election - the Sheriff, the Returning Officer and their staff, as well as the Garda Siochana and all officials involved in the electoral process. Theirs is a thankless but crucial task. My fellow candidates for other parties and none were good "travelling companions" on this unusual journey and we aired our differences in a relatively civilized fashion!

Whatever the result today I feel I have done my best as a candidate and that is all any of us can do. It has been an immense privilege and a pleasure.

In today's Irish Independent

I am quoted in an article in today's Irish Independent about lawyers running in the local elections - http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/political--brief-1756099.html

Volunteers needed for the final push!

Many thanks to all those who have helped my campaign so far. I would really appreciate any additional help you could give me for the final 11 days, mainly in terms of canvassing and leafleting, or putting up the occasional final poster. If you could give me some help to get the campaign over the line in those 11 days could you please drop me an email to richard.humphreys@votelabour.ie - many thanks - Richard

Nomination submitted

An important day yesterday; my campaign manager Neal Lamb and I attended at Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Hall. Neal signed my nomination paper as proposer and it was submitted to the Returning Officer, Tom McHugh. Picture shows me outside County Hall with the document signed by the returning officer confirming acceptance of the nomination.

Manifesto Launch

To Buswells Hotel yesterday for the launch of the Labour Party local election manifesto. It is an excellent document which was prepared by Ciaran Lynch TD and Joanna Tuffy TD, as well as Jean O'Mahony of the Party's policy unit. It contains practical objectives for Labour councillors and candidates to work on, particularly the key aim of promoting employment.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council candidates

The Labour candidates for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council did a group photo at the Merrion Hotel, attached. Its hard to get everyone together but getting 8 out of the 12, plus the Party Leader, is not bad!

Campaign launch

Attended the Labour Party's local election launch yesterday in the Merrion Hotel. Picture shows me with fellow Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council candidates Cllrs Carrie Smyth and Denis O'Callaghan. I am working closely with them particularly as regards the Foxrock-Cabinteely part of the ward which has been transferred from their area to mine.

At the launch Eamon Gilmore spoke strongly about the need to safeguard jobs, and the role of local authorities in that regard. Joan Burton spoke about the state of the local election campaign and the record numbers of candidates going forward this time. I wish all my fellow Labour candidates well.

The Government has now confirmed that the bye-elections will also be held on June 5th, although the writs have not as yet been formally moved.

Candidates for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council

The Labour Party has added a number of new candidates to the ticket for other wards within Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council.

The full line up is as follows:

Ballybrack - Cllr Carrie Smyth, Cllr Denis O'Callaghan
Blackrock - Cllr Niamh Bhreathnach, Ronan Farren
Dundrum - Cllr Aidan Culhane, Veronica O'Doherty
Dun Laoghaire - Cllr Jane Dillon-Byrne, Angela Timlin, Stephen Fitzpatrick
Glencullen-Sandyford - Cllr Lettie McCarthy, Aidan O'Sullivan
Stillorgan - Richard Humphreys

A total of 12 candidates for the 28 seats on the Council. Best of luck to all the other candidates.

Meanwhile, Cllr Aidan Culhane has posted a useful notice regarding dates for display of the draft development plan - http://www.aidanculhane.com/2009/04/development-plan-dates.php

Campaign expenditure legislation commences tomorrow

Latest press release from Minister John Gormley:

Mr. John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and
Local Government, has today (6 April 09) announced that he recently
signed two orders; the first one sets Tuesday 7th April as the day from
which the spending limits at the elections apply. The second one made an
Order appointing Friday 5th June 2009 as the polling day and the hours
between 7.00 a.m. and 10.00 p.m. as the hours of polling at the local
elections.

The local elections will be held in conjunction with the European
Parliament elections, for which a separate polling day order will be
made at a later date.

The Polling Day Order for the local elections was made in order to
facilitate implementation of the new spending limits at local elections.
The Minister also made a further order setting Tuesday 7th April as
the day from which the spending limits at the elections apply. Election
spending incurred between April 7th, 2009 and polling day on June 5th,
must be included on a declaration submitted by candidates and political
parties within 90 days of polling day. This year*s local elections
will see spending limits applied to candidates and parties for the first
time ever.

For the 34 County and City Councils, a sliding scale with four separate
spending limits, based on the population within each individual
electoral area, will apply. A top limit of €15,000 will apply in the
most populated areas, with limits of €13,000, €11,500 and €9,750 to
apply to candidates in other county and city council electoral areas,
depending on their population. Due to their different administrative
responsibilities, a standard spending limit will apply to all 80 of the
borough and town councils. Candidates standing for election to these
local authorities will be subject to a spending limit of €7,500 in all
cases.

Announcing the commencement of the election spending period, Minister
Gormley said that the introduction of spending limits for local
elections represents a significant reform of the electoral process to
make it fairer for all: *It is in everybody*s interest that there
should be clear and reasonable spending limits as this ensures a level
playing field for all candidates. In the competitive atmosphere at an
election, parties and candidates can be drawn into a spiral of
competitive spending which can serve no real purpose other than to run
the risk of needless increased expenditure,* the Minister added.

The time period during which candidates can exhibit election posters
has now been clarified and the Minister announced that local and
european election candidates can only erect posters from 6th May, which
is 30 days before the polling date. The requirement for candidates to
remove all posters within 7 days of the poll still remains; so all
posters must be down by 12th June.

The Minister also took the opportunity to remind people who are
eligible to vote but are not yet registered as electors that they still
have time to apply for entry in the Supplement to the register of
electors to be published before polling day and so be able to vote on
5th June.

Persons not on the register may be eligible to apply for inclusion on
the Supplement to the register. To be eligible, a person must be 18
years of age or over on or before polling day and must be ordinarily
resident in the State.

An application for entry on the supplement must be witnessed by:

a member of the Garda Síochána or, if the person cannot attend their
local Garda Station, by an official of their City or County Council
provided they state the reason why they were unable to attend a Garda
station. If, because of a physical illness or physical disability, a
person cannot attend either their local Garda Station or their City or
County Council, their application form can be accompanied by a medical
certificate.

The final date for the receipt of completed supplement application
forms by City and County Councils is Monday 18th May 2009. Forms are
available from City and County Councils, Garda Stations, Libraries, Post
Offices and on-line at www.checktheregister.ie.

Labour Party Conference

To Mullingar at the weekend for a successful Labour Party Conference. Party Leader gave an excellent speech and the Party adopted the report of the 21st Century Labour Commission which among other things ends the traditional block vote of the trade unions. Now the unions' voting strength will depend on how many members of each union are also full members of the Labour Party.

I spoke at a seminar during the conference as well as addressing the main conference by moving the Mount Merrion/Kilmacud Branch motion on local government reform and speaking in favour of the aforementioned report. I was also returning officer for the Party's internal elections at the weekend, and conducted elections to the Party's Standing Orders Committee and Executive Board.

Picture shows me with successful Executive Board candidate Karen O'Connell (UCD Branch).

Manning elected as NUI Chancellor

Attended a celebration last night to mark the election of Maurice Manning as Chancellor of the NUI. I was glad to have recommended a vote for Maurice on these pages some weeks ago and thanks to all those who voted for him.

In today's Irish Times

Today's Irish Times publishes my review of Philip K Howard's Book, Life without Lawyers: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0318/1224243006423.html

Something completely different ...

Took time off from the campaign trail to go to Woody Allen's "Vicky Christina Barcelona" in Dundrum last night. As a break from the politics let me tell you about this film which I very much recommend.

As you might expect from Allen, this is a psychological drama in the European tradition. There are no explosions, killings, detectives, politicians, aliens etc etc.

It is a film that affords the audience some respect - you would be a long time waiting for a Hollywood blockbuster in which the main character analyses her husband's twitterings in Kantian terms. The philosophy espoused by another main character, tortured Spanish artist Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Javier Bardem), is, in part, straight from the works of Prof Viktor Frankl, whose aphorism "say yes to life in spite of everything" reappears here in condensed form.

In the opening scenes we meet the female protagonists, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) who is boring and conventional and her friend Christina (Scarlett Johansson) who is flighty and adventurous. The friends are spending the summer in Barcelona as the guests of an older couple, Judy and Mark. We expect the film to be about Christina but as the film progresses it seems to be Vicky that feels the upheavals of the human condition much more keenly.

Penelope Cruz won an oscar for best supporting actress as Gonzalo's unhappy ex-wife Maria Elena, though her character is something of an inessential court jester in the drama. The friends' host Judy is a much more central figure to Vicky's inner turmoils in the sense that she is an older version of Vicky who has settled for a conventional existence. The film rails against the conservatism and materialism of American society which is embodied in the bourgeois husbands that Judy and Vicky have taken. (It is hard to get away from politics after all!) Anyway I enjoyed it thoroughly and do recommend it.

Pic with Loraine Mulligan at Constituency Council

With Maria Parodi, DCC candidate and Aidan O'Sullivan, MEP Sub candidate

More from Party Leader's reception

More pictures from Party Leader Eamon Gilmore TD's reception - me with Loraine Mulligan, Cllr Aidan Culhane and Graham O Maonaigh.

My reply on data retention

The Irish Times published my letter yesterday (16 Mar) replying to my critics on the issue of data retention. The letter is below.

Dear Madam,
For some months now, this newspaper’s technology writer Karlin Lillington has been pursuing an increasingly vocal campaign against the Data Retention Bill.
When I recently indicated my support for this important legislation, I found myself described by Ms Lillington in an article on March 6th as a ‘conservative’ and as having a ‘PD’ perspective on the Bill.
While I’m sure that Ms Lillington’s opinions are all very interesting if not entertaining for readers, I am not certain that they do much to advance public understanding of this issue. Perhaps you will give me space to reply to her criticisms.
The Data Retention Bill would oblige telecoms companies to keep data about the use of their services and to disclose this data to the Gardai where necessary for a criminal investigation.
We need this legislation for a number of key reasons. Firstly we are obliged to introduce this Bill by EU Law.
In addition, the European Convention for Human Rights requires that where a citizen’s privacy is to be lifted, the criteria for doing so must be spelled out in law. By spelling out conditions and safeguards, the Bill will do just that.
But the most basic reason why the legislation is necessary is that we have a responsibility to equip the Gardai with the tools they need to combat serious crime. The fundamental error that is so often made by the civil liberties lobby is to equate human rights in the criminal justice context with suspects’ rights.
That would be a mistake - a tragic mistake.
The victim of an offence is entitled to an effective investigation by the State as a matter of right - case law under the European Convention of Human Rights tells us that. We would be condoning a further breach of the rights of victims if we failed to give the Gardai the powers they need to investigate serious crime. And the Bill will only apply to serious, indictable crime – it will not apply to any offence that can only be prosecuted in the District Court.
New Garda powers do require safeguards of course, and one of Ms Lillington’s main complaints about the Bill in an earlier front page article on February 10th was that it would allow the Minister for Justice to make regulations which she saw as a bypassing of safeguards. Indeed Ivana Bacik was quoted in that article as saying that such regulations could create ‘inexplicable gaps in scrutiny’.
But the Bill only provides for regulations to limit the scope of Garda powers, not to extend them. Where regulations are made specifying an offence, there will simply be no Garda powers regarding data retention for that offence. There is no ‘inexplicable gap in scrutiny’.
Ms Bacik had also called for a suspect to be given the right to know whether they were under investigation. But no such right exists under comparable existing legislation dealing with phone tapping. That being the case, it would make no sense to give the suspect such a right under the Data Retention Bill. To my mind, Ms Bacik’s call for a suspect’s right to know they are being investigated is ill-conceived because it would seriously compromise the effectiveness of Garda investigations.
Yours faithfully

Richard Humphreys

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2009/0316/1224242905927.html

Eamon Gilmore Reception

Attended reception hosted by Eamon Gilmore TD, Party Leader, last night. Excellent turnout and a lot of support for the need for change. Pic of me with Cllrs Aidan Culhane and Lettie McCarthy - the 3 candidates for DLRCC from Dublin South - thanks to Neal Lamb.

European selection convention

The Labour Party selected our European candidate for Dublin last weekend as well as the first two candidates for the substitutes list. I was the returning officer for the election and was responsible for running the election and declaring the results. The pictures show me with Alex White and Ita McAuliffe, and with Cllr Emer Costello and Aidan O'Sullivan, as well as the count in progress.

Alex White comments on democratic renewal

Interesting post by Senator Alex White at http://senatoralexwhite.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/politicians-part-of-the-problem-or-part-of-the-solution/#comments regarding the need for a new programme of renewal and reform to make politics more meaningful and democratic.

Aidan Culhane comments on local funding situation

Cllr Aidan Culhane has a thoughtful piece on the forthcoming difficulties with local government funding at http://www.aidanculhane.com/2009/02/local-government-funding.php

Pronsias de Rossa MEP addresses Constituency Council

Attended the Constituency Council of the Labour Party for Dublin South last night; Proinsias de Rossa MEP spoke on a range of issues as did Cllr Emer Costello and Aidan O'Sullivan. Had a good discussion afterwards with Proinsias and with Alex White. Thanks to Graham O Maonaigh and Frank Humphreys for photos.

"... a nightmare ..."

In the Sunday Independent on 22 February, the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment described the effect of her own Government's tax policy (specifically the VAT increase last year) as "mad ... a disaster ... a nightmare".

This is really beyond parody; you would wonder what would it take to get these people to change course.

My answer of course is that if the FF/Green/Independent Government itself is calling the effect of its own policy as mad, a disaster and a nightmare, then perhaps voters would like to consider an alternative on 5th June.

(Reference: Daniel McConnell, "Coughlan: rise in VAT a disaster we can't reverse", Sunday Independent, 22nd February 2009, p. 25.)

Data Retention Bill

The subject of police powers seems to be a hard one for some commentators to deal with accurately and fairly. Take the question of data retention - obliging telecoms companies to retain data which may be critical to solving important crimes. The Irish Times published a story on 10th February which contained seriously inaccurate comments by Senator Ivana Bacik. In an attempt to correct these inaccuracies I wrote a letter to the Irish Times which they have not published so for the benefit of my blog readers I set it out below.

Dear Madam

Ms Ivana Bacik is quoted in your editions of 10 February (“New Bill will allow data obtained outside legal guidelines to be used”) as criticising the proposed new data retention legislation being developed by Minister Dermot Ahern’s Department. Her criticisms are entirely unfounded and ill-informed. This legislation is timely and welcome and indeed is necessary in order to protect rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Proportionality is built in to the proposal in that the Bill will not apply either to offences punishable by under 12 months imprisonment, or to offences that are excluded by regulations. Ms Bacik states that such exclusion might create “inexplicable gaps in scrutiny” but she seems to have failed to appreciate that if an offence is excluded, then retention powers will not be available to the Gardai in that case. There is no inexplicable gap in scrutiny.

The draft referred to would also provide that a disclosure request involving a technical non-compliance with procedures would not automatically be invalid. There is nothing unusual about such a provision which is included in existing law on telephone tapping and treatment of persons in custody. It is a necessary provision to ensure that the substance of the legislation is upheld. It is a misconception of Ms Bacik to say that the legislation “can so easily be overridden.” The regulatory scheme is there and this clause would merely deal with the consequences of any breach of that scheme; it is not a licence to override the scheme.

Ms Bacik’s final point is that there should be “an obligation to inform the person that a disclosure request had been made”. This is profoundly misconceived and ignores the fact that the Bill will follow the model of the phone tapping legislation. Court decisions clearly support the proposition that fair procedures apply if a person is charged with an offence, not to all aspects of the criminal investigation. If the Gardai had to inform all suspects that they are being investigated then the fight against crime would be gravely hamstrung and the rights of the community severely undermined.

Yours sincerely

Richard Humphreys

Spending limits for local elections

See press release below regarding new legislation on spending limits for local elections:

Gormley Announces Spending Limits for Local Election Candidates in June
Elections

-Report on Electoral Reform Also Published-


Mr John Gormley T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local
Government, today (10 Feb. 09) announced that all candidates standing
in the local elections to be held on the 5th of June this year, will be
subject to limits on election expenditure.

For the 34 County and City Councils, a sliding scale with four separate
spending limits, based on the population within each individual
electoral area, will apply. A top limit of €15,000 will apply in the
most populated areas, with limits of €13,000, €11,500 and €9,750 to
apply to candidates in other county and city council electoral areas,
depending on their population (see table below). The Minister indicated
that he will shortly publish a Bill to give effect to these spending
limits, which will be in force for the local elections due to take place
in June 2009.

Due to their different administrative responsibilities, a standard
spending limit will apply to all 80 of the borough and town councils.
Candidates standing for election to these local authorities will be
subject to a spending limit of €7,500 in all cases.

The Minister also announced that spending by candidates and political
parties on the election campaign in the 60 days leading up to polling
day will be covered under the new scheme of spending limits and such
spending must be declared in their statements of election expenditure.


Up to now, all local election candidates were required to submit a
declaration of election expenditure; however there were no limits on
what could be spent. Candidates will continue to submit spending
returns to their local authority as they have done heretofore, but will
also be required to comply with the new spending limits.

The Minister said: *It is quite common for candidates to contest
elections simultaneously for both a county council and an urban-based
borough or town council. In these circumstances, a candidate will be
able to spend up to the limit for the county council electoral area,
plus one quarter of the limit for the borough or town council*. The
Minister added that given the economies of scale for a candidate in
contesting two polls on the same day, it is reasonable to reduce the
limit for spending in the case of the borough council or town council
election.

The Minister said, *the purpose of introducing spending limits is to
create as level a playing field as possible to ensure that candidates of
modest means are not put at a disadvantage in contesting an election.*
He said that *it will also bring local elections in line with other
electoral codes where spending limits already apply.*

The Minister concluded, *building upon the existing system of
election expenditure declarations by local election candidates will
minimise complexity, and maximise compliance with the new spending
limits. In setting the spending limits, a balance had to be struck. The
limits have to be both realistic and reasonable. If they were set at
too low a level, they might unduly hinder campaigning, particularly by
new candidates. If the limits were pitched too high, they would defeat
the objective of discouraging excessive spending. I am confident that
this proposal strikes the right balance.*

Report on Electoral Reform:

The Minister also published a detailed report on the establishment of
an Electoral Commission in Ireland.

The report, by a team from UCD, was commissioned by the Minister. It
arises from the commitment in the Programme for Government to
establish an independent Electoral Commission which will take
responsibility for electoral administration and oversight, implement
modern and efficient electoral practices, revise constituency
boundaries, take charge of compiling a new national rolling electoral
register, take over the functions of the Standards in Public Office
Commission relating to election spending, and examine the issue of
financing the political system.

The UCD report now being published gives:

· an overview of the present arrangements for electoral
administration in Ireland,

· an examination of the position in other countries,

· options for, and conclusions on, an Electoral Commission in
Ireland - membership, functions, funding and relationship with others
involved in electoral policy and administration,

· recommendations concerning approaches to the modernisation and
consolidation of legislation in the context of the establishment of an
Electoral Commission.

·
The report covers issues such as the registration of political parties,
the electoral register, constituency revision, running elections and
referenda, funding, and research and awareness activities.

*This is a major analysis of our arrangements for electoral
administration which merits detailed consideration by all with an
interest in this key area of our public life*, said Minister Gormley.
*I want to thank Professor Sinnott and his colleagues in UCD for their
excellent work*.

*The electoral system belongs to us all and I am determined to take
forward change in this area on a consensus basis. For that reason, I am
now inviting interested organisations and individuals to let me have
their views on the important issues raised in the report. In this way,
we will have a firm basis for implementation of the changes signalled in
the Government Programme*, concluded the Minister.

The report is available on the Department*s website (www.environ.ie).


Media queries:
Press and Information Office
Tel: (01) 888 2638 (direct)
(01) 888 2000
E-Mail: press-office@environ.ie
Web site: www.environ.ie





Notes for Editors

· The spending limits for local elections will apply to individual
candidates in the first instance. Candidates nominated by a political
party will be deemed to automatically allocate 10% of their limit for
use by the party*s National Agent. However, there will be scope to
vary this figure upwards or downwards by written agreement between the
candidate and the party.

· The spending limits are higher in county and city council areas
that have larger populations. Based on past experience, expenditure by
candidates varies widely, with candidates in more populated county and
city council areas tending to incur greater expenditure.

· There is also considerable variation in the population of
electoral areas. The county / city council electoral area smallest
population is Drumlish in Longford, with 6,453 people. At the other end
of the scale, in Dublin City the Pembroke / Rathmines electoral area has
the largest population, with 60,277 people. In setting the spending
limits, the Minister has taken account of these differences.

· Given their different administrative responsibilities, there is
a case for setting different limits for county and city councils on the
one hand, and borough and town councils on the other hand. The spending
limits for these local authorities will reflect this fact, with a
standard limit of €7,500 applying to all borough and town council
candidates.







Contd*

· A summary of the proposed spending limits is set out in the
following table:

Electoral Area CandidateSpending Limit 10% of Limit to be Allocated to
Political Party Effective Candidate Limit (Unless Altered by Written
Agreement)
County / City Council areas with population of 32,501 or
over €15,000 €1,500 €13,500
County / City Council areas with population between 22,501 and
32,500 €13,000 €1,300 €11,700
County / City Council areas with population between 12,001 and
22,500 €11,500 €1,150 €10,350
County / City Council areas with population of 12,000 or
less €9,750 €975 €8,775
All Borough and Town Councils €7,500 €750 €6,750


· In all, there are 34 county and city councils, which are in turn
broken down into 171 local electoral areas. The top limit of €15,000
will apply in the 43 most populated electoral areas. The limit of
€13,000 will apply in 38 electoral areas. The limit of €11,500 will
apply to the 66 electoral areas. The lowest limit of €9,750 will apply
in 24 county and city council areas.

· The spending limit of €7,500 will apply to all 80 borough and
town councils.

· The spending limits evidence-based, and have being informed by
stakeholder consultation with local government representatives; the
limits for Dáil elections; past spending patterns, and; the particular
characteristics of local government in Ireland
Report on Electoral Reform:
At present, electoral administration in Ireland is the responsibility
of a range of bodies, including the Constituency Commission; Local
Electoral Area Boundary Committees; the Standards in Public Office
Commission; the Referendum Commission; Local Authorities (Electoral
Register and Polling Schemes); the Clerk of the Dáil/Registrar of
Political Parties; Dáil, Seanad, European, local, presidential and
referendum returning officers; county registrars/sherriffs; and the
Minister and his Department.

The law in the area is also complex and extensive. There are over 20
separate Acts of the Oireachtas dealing directly and solely with
electoral matters.

ENDS.

Date for local elections - Friday 5th June

The date for the local elections has been announced as Friday 5th June 2009. See press release below. The indications are that the Dublin South bye-election will be held on the same date.

Gormley announces European and Local Elections for Friday 5 June 2009
05/02/09

Mr. John Gormley T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, today (5 February 2009) announced that European and Local Elections will be held on Friday 5 June 2009. Polling hours will be from 7.00 am to 10.00 pm.

Announcing the date, Minister Gormley encouraged people to register to vote. The Minister reminded people who are eligible to vote, but are not yet registered, to do so at the earliest opportunity.

People may apply for entry in the supplement to the register of electors. To be included in the supplement and able to vote at the elections, a person must be 18 years of age or over, be ordinarily resident at the address at which they wish to be registered and not already registered as an elector at any other address. Application for entry in the supplement should be made to the County Council or City Council for the area where the applicant is resident so as to be received by the Council not later than Monday 18th May 2009.

Applications forms can be obtained from the relevant Council or can be downloaded from www.checktheregister.ie. Forms must be witnessed by a member of the Garda Síochana or, if the person cannot attend their local Garda Station, by an official of their County or City Council provided they state the reason why they were unable to attend a Garda station. If, because of a physical illness or physical disability, a person cannot attend either their local Garda Station or their County or City Council, their application form must be accompanied by a medical certificate.

Every person aged 18 years or over is entitled to be registered as a local government elector for the electoral area where they ordinarily reside: citizenship is not a requirement for voting at a local election. Persons who live in urban areas administered by Borough Councils or Town Councils are entitled to vote at elections for both the County Council and the Borough/Town Council.
Every person who is a citizen of Ireland or is ordinarily resident in the State and has reached the age of 18 years and is not subject to disqualification is eligible for election to a local authority.

Every Irish and other EU citizen living in Ireland aged 18 years or over and registered in the register of electors is entitled to vote at the European election. Irish citizens, and other EU citizens living in Ireland, and not subject to any disqualification can stand for election in any European constituency in the State. Candidates for the European election must be 21 years of age or over.

There are over 3 million local government and European electors on the current register. A new register of electors, which will apply at the elections, will come into force on 15 February 2009.
There are 4 European electoral constituencies and 258 local election constituencies.

The Minister will make the formal Orders for the European and local elections, setting the date and times for the polls, at a later stage.

Facebook

For those who use facebook you may like to know that I am now on facebook here.

Book review

The Minister of State at the Departments of Finance and Arts, Sport and Tourism with special responsibility for the OPW and Arts, Dr Martin Mansergh TD, has reviewed my book in the last edition of the Irish Catholic - see here . This may be of interest to my blog readers

Bye-election

The Labour Party are concerned that following the sad and untimely death of the late Seamus Brennan TD, the Government have not announced a date for the bye-election in Dublin South. The Party Leader Eamon Gilmore has stated that he will move the writ to allow the Dublin South Constituency to have its full representation in the Dail: see here.

In the local media ...

As well as coverage in the Dundrum and Dun Laoghaire Gazette, my statement on the massive rise in local unemployment figures is covered in Southside People at http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/1524/57/

Worsening economic situation

Figures I obtained from Roisin Shortall TD Labour Party Spokesperson on Social and Family Affairs show that the numbers out of work in the Stillorgan ward have risen alarmingly, by approximately 94% since May 2007. The current Dundrum/Dun Laoghaire Gazette has good coverage of this issue following a press release I issued. Now is certainly no time to give the "powers that be" a thank-you present at the June elections. While the next few years are going to be a very difficult time at local government level, that is all the more reason for there to be active new councillors to tackle these challenges.

Speed limits

Cllr Aidan Culhane has a useful information notice at http://www.aidanculhane.com/2009/01/speed-limit-review.php regarding informational meetings this week as part of the review of speed limits in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council area.

Message for NUI Graduates ...

For any graduates of the National University of Ireand who are interested in participating in another electoral process, you may wish to know that there is an election taking place for Chancellor of the NUI. To vote you have to apply for a ballot paper - details of how to do so are posted at http://www.nui.ie/news/081120-chancellor-candidates.asp. One of the candidates is Dr Maurice Manning, who I worked closely with when he was Leader of the Seanad between 1995 and 1997. Maurice played a crucial role in assisting the Labour Party's legislation passing smoothly through the Seanad, including a number of difficult Bills on which I worked at the time when I was a Government adviser to Minister Mervyn Taylor, such as the Civil Legal Aid Bill and the Family Law Bill. I have no hesitation in warmly supporting Maurice's bid to become the Chancellor of the NUI and I have no doubt that if elected he would perform that role with distinction, professionalism and style.

Threat to bus services in Stillorgan Ward

Tommy Broughan TD, Labour Party spokesperson on Transport, has issued a press release today here on the threat to Dublin Bus services throughout the Dublin area. If major cuts are applied, there are a number of routes in the Stillorgan ward that could be under threat.



I have recently written to Dublin Bus seeking an extension of Bus services, particularly to connect the Stillorgan Road better with the coast road and facilities such as St Vincent's Hospital. I will remain vigilant on this issue and other threats to local services in our area.

Ramps on the Rise

Among the different issues I have raised with the County Council regarding local problems is the issue of ramps on The Rise.

Anyone who has encountered these ramps, especially at anything more than crawling speed, will know that they are extraordinarily high. A number of residents have asked me to raise this issue with the Council.

My complaint to the Council was covered in the local media. You can read the Southside People story here: http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/1452/57/. The Lifetimes and Dundrum Gazette stories are also available in the current issues.

In today's Irish Times ...

A review of my book by Deaglan de Breadun in today's Irish Times: see http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/1224/1229728523315.html

Also my book was welcomed in the Seanad by Senator Mark Daly:see his comments at http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=SEN20081119.XML&Dail=30&Ex=All&Page=2

A happy Christmas and successful new year to all my constituents and blog readers!

Legislative Business

The second-last week of the Dail and Seanad Session (that's the week just finished) is always the busiest as a lot of Bills are going through in great haste - the final week is not so bad as it is generally too late for major amendments at the last minute. As the Parliamentary Labour Party's legal adviser, one of the Bills that I drafted amendments for was the Housing Bill, as Senator Dominic Hannigan kindly mentions here . This is an important Bill for local government and one of a number that are going through at present that Labour is examining closely on behalf of the public.

More on the Party Conference

Videos of contributions by Senator Alex White are available here

Edit: December 8th

I'm just getting around to posting some photographs from conference, you can see more on the Labour Flickr photostream.

Labour Party Conference

To Kilkenny last weekend for the very successful Labour Party conference. Party Leader Eamon Gilmore TD gave an excellent speech emphasising the Party's decision not to align itself with either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael but to pursue our own approach of leadership and listening to people and offering practical solutions.

Senator Alex White, also made an excellent speech introducing the Party leader on Saturday night. Cllr Aidan Culhane spoke on Saturday on a motion on housing introduced by the Dublin South Labour Party Constituency Council.

I addressed the conference to second a motion on criminal justice (you can watch it on Ustream here) which was proposed by Pat Rabbitte TD, Party Spokesperson on Justice. I hope to post some pictures from the event here in the coming days.

Book launch - Countdown to Unity

This was a busy week as my book, Countdown to Unity: Debating Irish Reunification was launched on Tuesday. There was good coverage in the Irish Times and I also did an interview on the Right Hook about it which you can listen to via the slide show at the bottom of the post. There are also photographs from the evening on Flickr.

End of the PDs

Cllr Aidan Culhane offers this comment on the demise of the PDs - http://www.aidanculhane.com/2008/11/end-of-pds.php

He is quite right that some other sections of the political establishment have been outgunning the PDs in right-wing rhetoric for some time. Those looking for an enterprise-friendly economy but also a more equal society might be better off looking to the Labour Party rather than the Leo Varadkar wing of Fine Gael.

Polls and politics

The recent tns/Irish Times opinion polls show that there is real disappointment and anger at the Fianna Fail/Green/Independent Government with a series of bad decisions, particularly the more savage budget cuts.

As far as the vaccine decision is concerned, you will recall that the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, once advised hard-pressed Irish consumers to “shop around”. How strange therefore that the cervical cancer vaccine was cancelled on cost grounds when Ms Harney has stated that the HSE is unable to say how much the procurement cost would be.

However those voters who are unhappy with the rather brutal and short-sighted cutbacks made by the Fianna Fail/Green/Independent coalition will at least have the opportunity to “shop around” politically in next June’s local elections.

Education cutbacks to hit Stillorgan Ward - Oatlands National School to lose teachers

Senator Alex White, the Leader of the Labour Seanad Group has posted here about the fact that Oatlands National School in Stillorgan is to lose 4 teachers under the cutbacks and Dublin South in total will lose 14 teachers. It seems extraordinary that the Government has targeted senior citizens and children to bear the brunt of their cutbacks in health and education. Labour will continue to fight these cuts vigorously in the months ahead.

In today's Irish Times, Turlough O'Sullivan of IBEC criticises the budget for applying the 1% income levy to the low paid. If even IBEC are criticising the budget as unequal there can't be too many people left defending the Government's commitment to social justice ...

Teachers' protest this week

This week the Labour Party submitted a motion condemning the education cuts, particularly the extraordinary decision to increase class sizes. I attended the teachers' protest which coincided with the Dail debate on education.

Speaking in the Dail, our education spokesperson, Ruairi Quinn TD said:

"Minister Batt O’Keeffe said that the cutbacks would only last for two years. Wrong. For some they will be a life sentence. Minister, Ministers of State, members of Fianna Fail and the Green Party, think again. Labour is not trying to score political points. Nor are we trying to bring down this government in our motion tonight. We simply want to change that element of the budget that affects education.

We share the views expressed by the Chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science, Green Party Deputy Paul Gogarty who recently said:

“I do not have the repeat what I have said about education being a building block for future prosperity and social cohesion and the collective failure of the body politic – Government and opposition – to give real commitments to education so that we may reap the real rewards, albeit in some cases beyond the narrow five year electoral cycle. Funding education pays back in so many ways. And making cuts in the wrong place can cause irreparable damage”.

We are trying to secure our future and defend our children. Ireland is still a rich country, but is currently in economic difficulties. We can, together, overcome those difficulties by creative thinking, hard work and political leadership. But please, do not use our children’s future to copper fasten your deeply flawed budget.

Ministers and Deputies in Fianna Fail and the Green Party it is time to go back to the drawing board."


Myself and Deputy Tommy Broughan at the protest

Health protest

I attended the protest at Leinster House today against changes to the medical card scheme, organised by the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament. The turn out was exceptionally good and the Labour Party representatives who attended were well received. The message seems to be that the Government's changes to the budget are too little too late. Certainly I believe that far more than 5% of older medical card recipients will be affected by the cutback.


At the demo with Labour's Spokesperson on Older People Senator Phil Prendergast

"Health Cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped"

The mean-spirited decision of the Fianna Fail-Green government to withdraw the automatic entitlement to medical cards for the over-70s appears to have backfired badly on them. As I and other Labour candidates pointed out this week, this creates a 4-tier health system for our senior citizens, with some entitled to a full medical card, some GP only, some with the "consolation prize" of no medical card but a €400 payment, and some with nothing at all. The decision to axe the automatic entitlement seems to have been made at short notice given the amount of confusion which the Government has engendered about the details.

Labour has strongly stood up for universal entitlement to basic services, such as health care or third level education, in order to avoid the poverty traps that come from means testing, and in order to promote social solidarity and community. Some commentators have wrongly interpreted this as benefits for the better off - but in fact the better off would be paying for those benefits through a progressive tax system. Clearly it is time for the Government to climb down on the issue as fully and as quickly as possible.

Forthcoming County Development plan

If you are interested in planning in the county, Cllr Aidan Culhane has a post at http://www.aidanculhane.com/ regarding the forthcoming Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Development plan. Submissions on the issues and options for the plan can be made by 3 November 2008.

Appointment of Campaign Manager

I am pleased to say that Neal Lamb has agreed to take on the position of campaign manager for my campaign. Neal will be posting here from time to time between now and June 2008. I am also very gratified by the support of the Party locally, as we had a useful meeting with the Foxrock branch this week and a meeting of the Mount Merrion/Kilmacud branch is due next week.

Counting the Costs of Cowenomics

Over the last week we have seen the impact of constructive Opposition in the Dáil following the inclusion of amendments to the Credit Institutions Bill. The principle of one of Labour's amendments which sought the schemes to come back to the Dail and Seanad for approval was accepted. This is very welcome given the 'blank cheque' element of the Bill I spoke about in the last post. Labour's amendment will ensure the public get detailed information on the scheme before it is put in place and that the Dail gets the chance to review it which is imperative given the huge sums of public money potentially involved.

Joan Burton, the party's Deputy Leader made a short video talking about counting the cost of Cowenomics which you can see below and you can also read why we choose not to support the Bill as it went through the Dail on the Labour website. At the start of last week Labour launched a policy document detailing our proposals for economic recovery which you can read in our website's policy section.

Richard

What a week

What a week and the phrase a week is a long time in politics is very apt. I am legal adviser to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and I have had the job of drafting the Labour Party amendments to the Credit Institutions Bill.

I've been involved in many last minute pieces of legislation over the years but this one was particularly pressurised as the Bill only emerged about 90 minutes before the debate started. On Tuesday evening I found myself preparing the amendments under considerable pressure as it was envisaged there would be a late-night sitting; the amendments were submitted at 10.19pm on Tuesday night. My overall impression of the Bill when we saw it on Tuesday evening was that Eamon Gilmore was correct when he called it a blank cheque on Tuesday morning during Leaders' Questions. This was compounded by tonight's suggestion that additional banks could be added to the list.

I have no argument with the principle of the Bill but I am still unclear whether it represents a good deal for the taxpayer.

Richard

Richard is selected to run in Stillorgan

Last Thursday evening Richard was selected to run in the Stillorgan Ward for the Labour Party. Accepting the nomination Richard said: "The Labour Party's social democratic message is just as important to the people of Stillorgan, Mount Merrion or Foxrock as it is to any other part of the country. The people of this area believe in hard work and in aspiration to a better quality of life; they also believe in fairness and equality, in caring for others and for our environment."

Over the coming months we will use this blog to tell you what we have been doing, to get feedback on the campaign and more. We hope that various members of the team will update here regularly giving you a real flavour of the campaign. In the meantime you can find out more information on Richard's website.