Ah, I see. So you are opposed to Fianna Fáil - but only in the absence of a "you scratch my back" arrangement with them.

How reassuring.

I'm obviously more worried by lack of an abhorrence of entering into, or indeed, having to rely upon Sinn Feins agreement ! (As thigns stand, Labour and SF are poised to be the winners of LE'09 thropighout the city and will return a majority and I don't believe there is much difference between their policies at the Local Dublin level)

Being very blunt here, your party are running Jim O'Callaghan, a barrister who defended the Drumcondra mafia in the tribunals. I wonder what is Jim's take on Bertie and his horses, or what is his opinion on the convoluted dealings surrounding St. Lukes. (I do not doubt that Jim is personally above board) If in the event of Jim or any other FF'er being elected might it not be appropriate for the other members to walk out of the chamber in protest if he or other Fianna fail members mentions the need for ethics in politics, using the UN delegates in response to Ahmadinejad as a precedent.

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Fianna Fáil
The Land agents party.

Hmmm ... that would mean that no solicitor/barrister who's ever acted for anyone found guilty of any crime, I stress - any crime, could ever get involved in politics in your world.

Pretty unreasonable if you ask me.

No , that is not what I meant, I appreciate that they have to represent their clients to the best of their ability in the interests of justice, irregardless of their distaste for the crime in question. Most legal professionals do not consider those they represent, as their colleagues and friends. Lets leave that stuff to Tom Hagan in the Godfather. It is a moral question, maybe some people have higher personal standards than others, and I think that legal professionals should hold themselves to a very high standard. I personally could not represent a party, that I knew to be so corrupt, (Lawlor, Haughey etc, irregardless of one may have heard in confidence).Jim o'Callaghan has anytime I met seemed to be an honourable person. Money and power aren't everything Reverie.

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Fianna Fáil
The Land agents party.

The simple issue was would the City Council have a Chair/Lord Mayor or not. No other combination was likely to give us such.

As far as a SF Alliance on DCC - it would not be my first preference to putit mildly. I am favour of working with progressive parties rather than Nationalist Parties

Hmmm .. ok ... you accept that criminals must be represented regardless of crime but you look with distaste on anyone, or at the very least look down upon anyone who represents FF or party members.

This despite the fact that the Party has never been accused as a collective entity of wrongdoing, or the individuals Jim represented who themselves were never criminally indicted, never mind being convicted.

You must point out to me the value of morals in a court of law.

Rathgar Public Meeting:

There was a well attended and well run Public meeting held last night ( 21st April) hosted by the Rathgar Residents Association. The format was simple all those on the Panel had two minutes to introduce ourselves followed then by a Question and Answer session. All three Labour Councillors attended as did most of the other Public Representatives and candidates. The surprise for me was that two of the candidates did not speak at all but - sure maybe I spoke too much. The Gardai were also represented on the Panel.

Issues covered were mainly local. Policing and Crime, Planning, cleaning of Gullies, Local Government Reform and Financing, Traffic and Parking matters and facilities for and consultation with young people. The session went on till after 10.00pm and could have gone on longer given the questions. It is exactly the sort of meeting that should be taking place at a local level throughout the year and I certainly welcomed the opportunity to engage with those present on the issues. All the Councillors agreed to follow up on the issues raised and no doubt many will feature on the agenda of the next Area Committee.

Cllr, how do you call the final 3 seats? if you give one to FF who do you see doing it?

A bit hard for me to predict as I am either too hard or too soft on assessing my own chances depending on my mood at any given moment.

Here goes a prediction anyway and the order:

Mc Cartan ( FG)
Labour one - probably OQ
Labour two -possibly MF
Michael Donnelly
Edi Wynne or Eoghan Murphy - not sure which
Labour 3