Rory O’Connell of Queen’s University Belfast Law School has set up a website which will be of interest to people teaching UK or comparative constitutional law. The website includes a chronology of events and sources relevant to constitutional law. The resource focuses on evens in UK constitutional history though also includes references to Irish, European,(…)
About Deirdre Duffy
Posts by Deirdre Duffy:
Teen parents and Exclusion: Time for a Departmental Response
The publication of a highly critical report regarding the refusal by a Munster post-primary principal (identified only as School A) to admit a young mother by the Ombudsman for Children and Young People conveys both acutely negative and positive messages.
Moving past the UK riots: More youth clubs not police, please
The rioting in Tottenham, Brixton, Hackney and now parts of Liverpool, Bristol and Nottingham are the product of a complex mix of long- and short- term factors. One that few have mentioned is the shutting down of the places that have hitherto tried to help young people – the group that has taken the lead(…)
Internet 'freedom' and eG8
To be GOVERNED is to kept in sight, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, estimates, valued, censured, commanded…at every transaction [to be] noted, registered, enrolled, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is…to be placed under contribution, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, squeezed, mystified,(…)
Respecting social housing
Following Tuesday’s Prime Time report on the deplorable condition of Ireland’s social housing stock, the Minister for Housing and Planning, Willie Penrose tried to defend the fact that NAMA’s ‘social dividend’ had still not emerged by commenting that “regeneration is more than bricks and mortar”. From Minister Penrose’s perspective, this counts as a satisfactory response. The failure of successive Governments to protect social housing tenants from(…)
Innocent Illuminati: Moriarty and the Civil Service
Like most children of the 1980s, the Moriarty Tribunal (or the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain payments to Politicians and Related Matters) has been a bit-player throughout my politically formative years. Barely pubescent, my personal definition of ‘tribunal’ when Moriarty was convened in 1997 was a mish-mash of speeches by Disraeli and judgements by Pontius(…)
Election 2011: Why we need to talk about public sector reform
The next election is expected to change Ireland’s political landscape. The leading parties’ proposals include plans to dissolve the Seanad, decrease the number of TDs, to extend the number of working days of the Dáil and massive public service reform. But despite the political grandstanding over institutional reform – apparently it’s a necessity and will save the world - to(…)
Budget 2011: Young people and youth services
Children and young people have been one of the biggest losers in Minister Lenihan’s ‘austerity budgets’ and Budget 2011 is no different. With predicted “savings” of €307m from the Education and Skills budget, €765m from the Health and Children budget and reductions in Jobseeker’s Allowance, Supplementary Welfare Allowance (for the 22-24 age bracket) and Rent Supplement(…)
Budget 2011: Navigating the pre-budget submissions
Echoing the sentiments of the majority, the general tone of the pre-budget submissions for Budget 2011 ranges between fear, anger and schadenfreude. But though the overarching message is the same, there are distinct differences between the requests.Within the calls to ring-fence funds for homeless services and protect the most vulnerable, lowest-earning members of Irish society, there are(…)
Making work pay: Vulnerable groups and UK welfare reform
Following through on their election promise to “make work pay”, Iain Duncan Smith, the UK’s Minister for Work and Pensions has unveiled proposals for a radical reform of unemployment benefit policy. The reforms are aimed at resolving a perennial problem of the benefit system – that sometimes employment does not pay. According to the coalition(…)