Election news in brief
Kenny looking for Dáil candidates
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, has said he wants 12 to 15 potential candidates for Dáil seats in Dublin to emerge from the party's local election campaign in the city, writes Arthur Beesley. At an election event at the Grand Canal in central Dublin, Mr Kenny declined to identify his target for the elections in Dublin, where Fine Gael is trying to reverse the collapse in support that left the party with only three Dáil seats after the 2002 general election.
Mr Kenny would only say that he wanted to increase the party's current tally of local authority seats. The party published a local manifesto for the city calling for the establishment of a separate police force in Dublin.
Mr Kenny played down the failure of the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, to specifically call on Labour supporters to transfer their votes to Fine Gael or Green candidates. While Mr Kenny has urged his own supporters to transfer their vote to Labour and Green candidates, he rejected suggestions that Mr Rabbitte had undermined the case Fine Gael was making for such an anti-Government alliance. The party leaders had yet to hold formal talks on such an alliance, he said.
Mr Kenny accepted that Fine Gael needed to put in a "great deal of hard work" in Dublin. The party has 55 candidates in Dublin, 29 of whom are standing for election for the first time. The manifesto said policing issues in Dublin were different to other areas of the State. It said the organisation and operation of policing in the city should fall under a Dublin Metropolitan Police Service "working in tandem with the Garda".
The manifesto proposed the creation of a post of directly-elected mayor in Dublin, with a five-year term of office. It also said that Dublin City Council should designate different parts of the city as areas where "another ethnic culture can be found".
Sinn Féin predictions
Sinn Féin will double the number of seats it holds on local authorities around the country, Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, declared yesterday, writes Mark Hennessy.
"There is a real opportunity to send a message to the conservative parties," said Mr Adams, when he launched his party's campaign in the city. "...It is important not to become disillusioned. It is important that with less than four weeks to go that people make sure that they are on the electoral register.
"The face of councils in the North was changed, not by sitting back, but by getting out on polling days to elect councillors who are committed to bringing about equality, local accountability and real progress," he added.
Under Sinn Féin's manifesto for Dublin, the State would pay rates to Dublin Corporation on all Government buildings.
The party's manifesto calls for better treatment for refugees and asylum-seekers, including an end to their forced dispersal, the right to work and citizenship upon birth in the country.
"The response of the Government, and elements of the media, to these changes has left a lot to be desired. Immigrants and asylum-seekers have been dehumanised or portrayed as spongers, criminals and welfare cheats." Sinn Féin says it is "committed to a multi-cultural Dublin as the capital city of a multi-cultural Ireland".
On housing, Sinn Féin demands that farmland should be bought at agricultural prices by local authorities for housing estates.
Meanwhile, no council house should remain boarded up for more than two months, while land sales by local authorities "to speculators or private developers" should cease.
Surplus State and Church land should be used by councils for housing, while they should not sell houses unless they can replace the property on this housing list.
All private rents should be capped and tenants granted greater protections, while landlords should be forced to pay tax on their income if they do not do so already.
Opposing the privatisation of some Dublin Bus routes, Sinn Féin also rejects road tolling, the break-up of Aer Rianta and any sell-off.
FG man against pact
A Fine Gael local election candidate and senior party strategist has demanded that his party rule out any future "collusion" with Fianna Fáil at local level, claiming that past pacts between the two parties has led to the abuse of power.
Mr Shane Molloy, a candidate in the Stillorgan Ward of DúLaoghaire-Rathdown Council, said yesterday that Fine Gael would never consider entering coalition with Fianna Fáil nationally, "partly because of an instinctive recognition of the dangers of such a huge majority.
Mr Molloy was a member of the party's strategy team during its successful election campaigns in the early 1980s. "When Fianna Fáil lose up to 100 seats in this election, it will be clear that the public don't want them in local government.
"Fine Gael councillors must not allow Fianna Fáil to return to power on the back of dubious pacts."
Criticism of farm plan
The Minister for Agriculture Mr Walsh said yesterday that Labour's proposal to move from direct subsidies to farmers to funding rural development would have "devastating effects on the incomes of farm families".
In a statement yesterday Mr Walsh claimed this represented "a seismic shift in policy even for a Labour Party that is no ally of farmers". He said direct subsidies to farmers were worth €1.6 billion a year and constituted 62 per cent of annual farm incomes.
He also claimed that Labour's commitment to respecting animal welfare "aligns Labour with the long-standing demand of the Green Party for the scrapping of live cattle exports on 'animal welfare grounds'."
CORI's election call
The Justice Commission of the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), which represents the Catholic religious orders, has urged voters to put the issues of poverty and social exclusion at the top of the election agenda.
In a document published yesterday, the group has called on voters to let values guide them when voting in the European and local elections."Choices made in elections reflect the values of those voting. Those elected have power to make decisions that affect many people. It is crucial that we all take a moment to reflect on the values that underpin our choices when we vote." The commission said voters need to recognise that the "economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy" and noted that a fundamental moral measure of the economic and political system is "how it tackles poverty, inequality and social exclusion. All people have the right to life and to the basic necessities required to life with dignity e.g. sufficient income, appropriate accommodation, essential healthcare, safe environment, cultural respect and real participation."
Loftus stands in Mayo
A former president of the National Union of Journalists has put his name on the ballot sheet for a seat on Mayo County Council. Mr Christy Loftus has declared as an Independent for the four-seater Westport electoral area.