“Nobody reads manifestos”, well here in the #Tortoiseshack we do to save you the bother. The Fine Gael and Fianna Fail manifestos dropped on the campaign trail today with all the bounce of a dead cat. ‘BAU’ Business as Usual is the mantra from both parties, neo-liberal ‘solutions’ which increase the cost of housing and tweeking tax bands are the […]
The “debate” passed off in an uninspiring 0 – 0 draw and the only talking points were the Taoiseach’s discomfort around his drug taking past and his comfort with his FG/FF coalition future. We fact check some of the claims and ask why easily disproved points went unchallenged. We also discuss the new #HomeForGood campaign and how to make the […]
Rory has worked with a group for the last 2 years and yesterday say the launch of their campaign to introduce the right to housing into the Irish Constitution, Home For Good. We were there to cover it. You will hear from Rory about the ambitions for the campaign and the reason it is something that is so vital. Then […]
It’s always hard to imagine something that hasn’t been done before. So while it’s understandable that people are defending Virgin Media TV’s (and RTE’s) decision to hold a “leaders” debate, it is, in our opinion wrong. We discuss why this is not representative of the majority of the electorate and needlessly gives the historical parties of government an unfair advantage. […]
The latest opinion poll shows less than the margin of error separating Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. While it’s only a poll, the trend for FG is down and in a three week campaign that won’t be easy to reverse. We discuss the FG “Left Wing” media bias claims, Labour’s willingness to talk to other parties of the […]
The Sunday Times poll was a bombshell. It rattled Fine Gael, RTE and anyone else who wants this campaign to be a strict FF/FG battle. We discuss the latest, the growing trend of negative campaigning and the opportunity that the next 2 weeks represents. Then, in a slight break from GE coverage exclusively, we are joined in the shack by […]
Ireland has the highest income inequality in the EU, but what does that mean? Well, our guest is Social Policy Officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and her paper into income disparity is a real eye opener. Laura tells us about how she went from working in the Students Union Shop in Trinity to doing he PhD in […]
While the campaign has failed to spark in terms of any noticeable political vision, external events are dominating the political news. With two shootings in as many days and a brutality never seen before in Ireland has people questioning if Fine Gael can claim their self-appointed title of the Party of Law & Order. We discuss this, the failure of […]