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Mick Greene's vote getting measure to become President!
THE fact that someone would go to such lengths to deface election posters is absolutely awful. The fact that the candidate is not in Fianna Fáil, has no political baggage and is the youngest in the Borough Council race means that whoever is responsible is doing it as a prank - and it is a sick one.
Some of the stuff written about Darren Murphy of FG is disgraceful and if anyone out there knows who did it, they should tell Darren or the gardai because it is not acceptable that people who do this kind of thing get away with it.
In trouble
Insider heard that one of the Fine Gael candidates in the Borough Council election is in trouble with the gardai for having his posters too close to traffic signs. Wonder which one it is?
The McGuinness phone campaign
Phone rings and the householder answers. The voice on the other end of the line is someone from Deputy John McGuinness's office ringing on behalf of Cllr Andrew McGuinness, his son, and obviously didn't check out who she was ringing.
She asked the person if he was aware there were local elections on. A bit stupid considering the person at the other end of the phone was FF and has been for many years one of the best known names in local politics.
However, this blitzkrieg kind of canvassing is working and I wonder if the cost of the phone calls and the manpower involved will be included in the expenses for Andrew McGuinness? By the way, how much does it cost to get vans, jeeps and cars done up with your face and slogan on it?
Still think John Paul will win Euro race
See where another poll in a national paper has given the third and final seat in the Euro election in the East constituency (Leinster without Dublin) to Nessa Childers of Labour. (Doesn't she look a little like Ann Marie Faithful in those posters?)
Anyway, Insider does not think it will happen and feels that Kilkenny's Sen John Paul Phelan of Fine Gael is the better candidate with a better grasp of the issues. Because of the way the Euro constituency is broken up, it is hard to get an overall read on what is actually happening on the ground and Insider doesn't think a poll of 150 people in such a fragmented constituency is representative and tells the real story and to back it up, he has noticed that the odds on John Paul getting elected have shortened considerably.
Don't forget the 'People competition
Don't forget to enter our great competition on Page 20, which has a prize fund of f400. All you have to do is guess the order in which the new 12 members of the Borough Council will be elected. Closing date is Fri-day, the day of the election.
Joe Malone has already voted
One candidate in the Borough Council election has already voted, presumably for himself. Joe Malone of FF has a postal vote. Well done, Joe.
Piltown-Fiddown bypass never opened
The fact that the Piltown-Fiddown bypass has never been officially opened says a lot. The project has been fraught with difficulties and there have been a number of fatalities on it. Is the failure to officially open it got anything to do with the fact that senior government ministers are embarrassed over the way the entire project has been handled and shocked by the number of changes and amendments to the new road or is it because it ran so over budget?
Insider heard there are going to be even more changes? Not if independent candidate Ann Black-more gets her way.
And the city's flood relief scheme
And while I'm at it, the city's flood relief scheme on the River Nore has never been officially opened either. I wonder if that because no one seems to know the real cost of the project that was supposed to cost f27 million and ended up officially costing f52 million thus far.
Mick Greene
Mick Greene is definitely the dark horse in the local elections. He has unwittingly come up with a great way of canvassing. His little daughter, Iseult, is four and all her classmates in the play school she attends are delighted that her dad Mick is, as they see it: "Going for the president's job." The other children have been telling (not asking) their parents to vote for Mick Greene at all costs. It just might work.
Nancy Cummins and John McGuinness
Taking politics out of the equation, have to say John McGuinness spoke very movingly about his aunt Nancy Cummins at her funeral Mass on Thursday. She was a wonderful woman.
Dixie's last time standing?
Whatever happens, Insider can't see Thomastown's Dixie Doyle going forward for election again. The affable, independent candidate has been finding the campaign tough and postponing his treatment for cancer isn't helping matters.
The loos woes on the Parade
Insider heard that a crew from England, constructing the new public loos on the Parade project, were left fuming last week. They had just put down the concrete floor for the WC when they were told it would have to be taken up because the people in charge had forgotten to put the ESB cables underground beforehand.
Is there anyone in charge over there and the silence from our Borough Council officials on the issue is defeaning. Why couldn't this project be completed away from the peak of the tourism season.
No city bus tour this summer
Because of the ongoing works on the Parade there will be no local guided bus tours of the city this summer because they have no where to park the bus.
Silence on abuse report says a lot
The silence from politicians on the sex abuse in Kilkenny and the part played by the sisters of charity says a lot following the publication of the report on institutional abuse. It appears to Insider that the nuns at St Joseph's orphanage, Waterford, Road, Kilkenny, and St Patrick's, Kells Road, Kilkenny, haven't exactly covered themselves in glory in the way they handled serious complaints against lay staff.
Only one to talk up was outgoing councillor Michael Lanigan who is a solicitor who acted for a number of those abused in St Joseph's.
Don't forget to vote
Do not pass up the opportunity to have your say on how the country is being run and on how local issues affect you by voting in the local and EU elections on Friday.
Many of us take our right to vote for granted (it is one of the most important democratic rights left to us). So if you are disenchanted with mainstream politics, there are plenty of alternative candidates to choose from on the ballot paper. Exercise your right and make a difference. Because if enough people want to change the system or the people in it, then they can.
Brian Cowen and John McGuinness meet
An Taoiseach Brian Cowen was only a shadow of the man he was 12 months ago when he arrived in Kilkenny city on Tuesday afternoon for a walk around the city and yes John McGuinness the Kilkenny based junior minister he sacked for no good reason showed up to add salt to the wound. McGuinness might well have the last laugh as the heave against Mr Cowen gathers pace.
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Weather for Kilkenny
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
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