The Orders of Business were very bleak last week. Tragic tales of floods, devastated communities and despair permeated many of the contributions. The future of our economy prompted equally gloomy interventions. Read More…

I regularly featured John Bruton’s updates on this site when he represented the European Union in the US. This job has now come to an end. John has however set up his own site, www.johnbruton.com. It already has some great material on it. Have a look!

More polling news from the UK where the Conservative lead in the opinion polls has been reduced again. Granted, they still have a 10 point lead but it is another weekend of polling information showing a cut in the Tory lead. Read More…

Have just done a guest post on the fabled Slugger O’Toole. It is available here.

It’s all about the meagre response from the Government to the floods. Their lack of compassion shines through. There are, however, deeper forces at play and this is an attempt to spell them out.

Thanks to Mick for the offer to do this and continued best of luck to his great work.

I spent last night at the AGM of the East Wall residents association at the Sean O’Casey Centre. It was very well attended with over one hundred residents in the hall. The meeting reviewed the work of the association and their priorities for the coming year.

The meeting focused on their work on maintaining Gardai numbers in the area, development issues and flooding prevention plans. My priorities for the East Wall area are twofold.

Firstly, representing local priorities on the underground dart project. Secondly, making sure that community policing levels are maintained. This community has a super residents association and myself and councillor Ray McAdam will keep them informed of all our work.