THE EXPECTED MELTDOWN in the Irish Labour Party vote happened this weekend as Local Election 2014 tallies produced a strong showing by independents and a surprising resurgence by Fianna Fail. There's a six minute video clip below the fold with more details.
Rundown:
The scale of Labour's mid-term election losses appeared to be so large last night that they may have killed off the threat to Eamon Gilmore's leadership of the party. [1] [4]
Former Minister Mary Hanafin was elected to Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council along with Kate Feeney, the official candidate of Fianna Fail.[2]
A British-born student, who killed six people in California after vowing "retribution" against women, was so disturbed as a child his family thought him mentally ill.[3] [9]
Female candidates win seats but still fall short of the 30% general election target. [5]
A victorious Luke "Ming" Flanagan used his Twitter account to criticise RTE and "old media". Flanagan, sore over the format of RTE's pre-election debate, tweeted that "Old media died today. Good riddance." He also snubbed RTE requests for an interview. "RTE frantically ringing my phone," he tweeted. "I'm busy."
Maximum Media, publisher of youth-oriented websites Her.ie and Joe.ie is preparing to launch HerFamily.ie. Maximum Media has earned the respect of serious advertisers such as Littlewoods, Nestle and AIB. [6]
All parts of the Irish media follow the bankruptcy hearing of David Drumm in Boston. If the judge doesn't believe Drumm made honest mistakes, Drumm could face criminal charges. [7]
Several commentators have identified the perspective of Ireland's "working poor" and as one of that cohort, I'm unhappy with the load our household has been asked to carry throughout this overly long period of Irish austerity. [8] We have no disposable income at the end of every month.
1. Stephen O'Brien and Sarah McInerney -- "Battered Labour Fears for the Future" is the lead item on the front page of The Sunday Times (ST), May 25, 2014.
2. Sarah McInerney -- "Fianna Fail rules out early return for Mary Hanafin," on the front page of the ST.
3. John Harlow and George Arbuthnott -- "Six die in virgin killer's revenge against humanity" on the front page of the ST.
4. John Burns -- "An election disaster of biblical proportions" in a two-page spread of the ST.
5. Gabrielle Monaghan -- "Women candidates prove their worth" in the ST.
6. Siobhan Brett -- "Maximum Media Goes After New Female Market" in the Sunday Business Post (SBP).
7. Donal O'Donovan -- "Stakes are high for Drumm" in the Sunday Independent.
8. John Drennan -- "The working poor are legion and they're not happy" in the Sunday Independent.
9. John Harlow and George Arbuthnott -- "I will slaughter every blonde I see" in the ST World News section.
