It always sends a shiver up the spine of this blog when it finds itself in agreement with the PDs.

Today they say they will bring in a directly elected mayor for the greater dublin area to replace the public service management staff system currently in place which dictates the day to day running of local authorities.

Dublin would be a pilot scheme for its extentsion to all local authorities.

Labour have gone a step further and promised a massive reform of local government that is much more sweeping and exciting then the PDs but it still spooky when Michael McDowell's lot come up with an acceptable idea.

No doubt under the FF-PD coalition a directly elected mayor would get as far as cafe bars did.

Is Limerick going to hell in a handbag? Is 'stab city' becoming ungovernable? Is the rule of law collapsing?

The availability of rocket launchers in the city suggests that Limerick is on the brink. What is Michael McDowell doing about this?

Criminal gangs are thrinving in the city and according to the Irish Times so "successful and brutal have the Limerick gangs become that they are now among the major suppliers into several country towns in Munster, while gardaí believe one of the Limerick gangs controls supplies of cocaine into the northside of Cork city."

There have been numerous killings including a lunchtime car chase complete with gunshots down the Ennis Dual Carraigeway.

What is the Minister doing?

Who the hell is Frank McNamara? The Irish Times says he is a "well known musician". Where is he well known? Not by this blog anyway.

The Times goes on "Mr McNamara, who was music director of the Late Late Show on RTÉ for 20 years, was the arranger and producer of two consecutive Irish winners of the Eurovision Song Contest."

Oh that Frank McNamara! Yeah right, I'm sure that makes him a well known musician in certain musical circles but he is hardly well known.

Christy Moore, he is well known. Frank McNamara is unknown, politically speaking anyway.

This reeks of PD desperation.

Reek on harvest moon!

He does look a bit like Michael McDowell though. McDowell with hair..........and a baton!

Labour have brushed off suggestions of a debate between Pat Rabitte and Michael McDowell saying the Tainiste's party is too small to merit a face off with Labour.

RTÉ has written to the parties proposing a six-way leaders' debate before a live studio audience, plus two further debates - one between Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the alternative taoiseach, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, and the other between the Tánaiste and the alternative tánaiste, Pat Rabbitte.

According to Labour the PDs are a niche party that will contest only a limited number of seats while the Labour Party will contest every constituency.

"We are simply not prepared to accept that the Labour Party or its leader should be relegated to some political second division with the Progressive Democrats."

Ouch!

Michael McDowell praised the collapse or alleged collapse of the Poolbeg incinerator project as "a victory for local government".

Ruairi Quinn points out that "Ministers Cullen and Roche decided to ignore the wishes of City Councillors from all parties and even removed their powers to block the proposal. Minister Michael McDowell, as a member of Cabinet, agreed to that hindering of local democracy."

Deputy Quinn goes on "It appears most unusual that Minister McDowell was informed of the abandoning of this project before anyone else, and saw fit to leak the information to a newspaper. This matter does not fall into Minister McDowell's portfolio, and it is important that we verify that there was no improper use of the information about the cancellation of the project by anyone at the Department of the Environment and Local Government. "

It is suspicously convenient that the extremely unpopular project, in McDowell's constituency, is shelved just months before the election. What stinks more is Michael McDowell's two faces on the issue of local government powers and what smells more is his version of the story.

Has the incinerator project collapsed? Not according to Dublin City Council which is behind the project despite the objections of its councillors.

Dublin City Council has issued a statement insisting that that the incinerator was still on track and the statutory processes, including the planning application by Dublin City Council to An Bord Pleanála and the application to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mr McDowell has said that the company behind the plan has been bought and the new owner has told the council it is no longer interested in pursuing the project.

Dublin City Council says the company's new owner simply wishes to make changes to the commercial arrangements of the project.

So McDowell has a lot of questions to answer on this one.

1. How did he know before the city councillors what was going on?
2. How is the change of a company's plans a "victory for local government"?
3. Why does his story not match that of the council?
4. Is he just trying to muddy the waters on this controversial issue until he gets the election out of the way?

Answers please Minister!

"There is also a constitutional right not to be murdered? There is a constitutional right not to have your family taken hostage. There is a constitutional right not to have your child die of a drug overdose. There is a constitutional right not to bury your innocent son as the victim of gangland violence."

---Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice

The irony of McDowell complaining about Labour's proposed tax cut while he adopts it as his own will be lost on the Minister for Justice and the PDs.

They are right, everyone else is wrong. This is the siege mentality of the party which is now down to 1% in the polls. Everyone else is wrong, they have to be, otherwise why are the PDs so unloved, unwanted and rejected by the people?

Tonight the PDs showcased their tax cuts, yes they will keep the tax cuts for the better off and they will steal Labour's and they will bring in a €300 pension.

This is auction politics at its utter worst. McDowell the self-appointed guardian of good government practice and sound finances will give away anything and everything to stay in power as Tainiste.

Michael McDowell has sealed his party's fate tonight as he becomes the Jack Lynch of the PDs who will ruin the economy just to get back into government. For shame Michael, for shame!

Read more about it here.

"Too late Austin Powers, I will give the pensioners of Ireland ONE BILLION DOLLARS to vote for me!"

1. "Sniff-where has my finger been?"

"No valentines card from Harney-again!"

"I want to say this about the speech that Pat Rabbitte made the other night. That speech proves that he is now admitting that he has been talking rubbish for 20 years. He has attacked every aspect of our tax policies. He's voted against them in every Finance Bill. He has denied our argument that tax rates matter. And here he is now saying, after 20 years of empty unsuccessful, hypocritical rhetoric, that he accepts he is wrong. What a sad moment for him."

---Michael McDowell, PD leader on Pat Rabbitte's speech.

Tell Michael McDowell how good you think he is as Minister for Justice by visiting his website and voting in his poll.




Michael is interested in your feelings and opinions on his term as Minister for Justice.

Rules for voting

1. Don't mention the promised 2,000 extra Gardai he promised but never delivered.
2. Don't mention the "last sting of the dying wasp"
3. Don't mention the 1% in the opinion polls
4. DO mention his Wonderful Leadership skills
5. DO mention his crack down on those friends of the criminals - the judiciary
6. DO mention that he is better than Zero Tolerance O'Donoghue

The alternative coalitions are polling neck and neck, according to the latest Irish Times /TNS mrbi survey which shows a decline of five percentage points in the combined support for both Government parties since December. Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats are now just one point ahead of the Fine Gael-Labour alternative.

That's according to today's Irish Times. Support for the PDs is at an all time low proving that while the PDs love their leader (he is up six points among PD supporters) no-one else does.

The shine too is coming off the Teflon Taoiseach as despite rallying around him when he cried and told us all about all the money he took, people are deserting FF.

However Labour and Fine Gael have not benefited from this decline as the support has gone to alternatives like the Greens and Sinn Fein.

It is up to Labour and FG to catch these voters and bring them back to the fold.

However it increasingly does look like Labour, FG and the Greens will form the next government.