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    Judicial Reform: independence yes; pouting no

    A few rules completely cover the mysterious case of The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017. The judiciary should be independent but not self-selecting. Independence is good, preening is bad. Lawyers robustly defending the judiciary against encroachments by the executive is welcome though not if it has been fundamentally mendacious and itself cut across the independence […]

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    Corruption in Wicklow: Eddie Sheehy is exonerated

    The Minister for Housing, and recent FG leadership contender, Simon Coveney, appointed a former senior Council official to investigate an allegation of financial malpractice at Cavan County Council (CCC), even though the former official had been accused in the High Court of being “up to his neck in corruption”. In March, Coveney and his department […]

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    Leo’s paradox

    As a younger, and perhaps wiser, Leo Varadkar once said: there is no messiah who will lead Fine Gael from the desert into the promised land. This did not prevent him from presenting a decidedly messianic image as he posed for the cameras following his decisive victory in the party’s leadership contest on 2 June. Since then […]

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    Obituary: Sean McEniff, 1936 – 2017

    The death at 81 of Sean McEniff removes one of the last old-style political fixers from Ireland’s political landscape. McEniff was the co-owner of the Tyrconnell Group, a hotel chain. In 2007 Tyrconnell had merged with the Brian McEniff Hotel Group, owned by his brother, Brian McEniff, an All-Ireland-winning manager of Donegal football team, to […]

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    Cooke-ing up a NAMA investigation

    Now that the long-awaited Commission of Investigation into the sale of Project Eagle has been conceded it remains to be seen which players will actually be on the pitch when the inquiry is finally convened. As predicted by Village several months ago, there was no chance that Enda Kenny or Michael Noonan would still be […]

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    Exoneration

    Former Manager Sheehy had clear understanding of the law and ethics though Wicklow Council breached EU waste law

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