European Parliament Consents to the Enhanced Co-Operation Procedure

June 1, 2010
By Stephen
European Parliament Consents to the Enhanced Co-Operation Procedure

Yesterday I blogged about the attempt by 12 member states the use the Enhanced Co-Operation Procedure in the area of divorce. This morning the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee voted to accept a report by MEP Tadeusz Zwiefka (EPP/PL) to allow the procedure to be used by the 12 countries. The draft...
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Ireland and the EU – Past, Present, Future

May 31, 2010
By Stephen
Ireland and the EU – Past, Present, Future

I have been meaning to post this for awhile but I didn’t know it had been posted on youtube yet. I saw this at the Alliance Francaise Symposium and I loved it and I hope you will too. Very informative! This video was created by the Irish delegation to the EU’s 60th Anniversary Celebrations...
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A European Divorce

May 31, 2010
By Stephen
A European Divorce

Tomorrow the European Parliaments Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs will hear about the state of play on the first use of the Enhanced Co-Operation Procedure. 12 member states are proposing new rules in regards to Divorce and when it is of a trans-national nature. To me this is a perfect use...
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Germany 2011

May 31, 2010
By Stephen
Germany 2011

On Saturday night, European Televoters and Juries voted Germany the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. This is the second time in the History of Eurovision that German of won the contest, see a history on escireland.com. It now falls to the German broadcaster ARD to host the contest next year. Throughout the...
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Eurovision Song Contest 2010: The Final

May 28, 2010
By Stephen
Eurovision Song Contest 2010: The Final

So I have blogged the running order and some general thoughts on the final over on ESC Ireland.com so I will just be adding colour here. The last time Ireland got to the Final from the Semi Final was back in 2006 when Brian Kennedy represented Ireland with “Every Song is A Cry for...
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Eurovision: Semi 2 – Come on Niamh!

May 27, 2010
By Stephen
Eurovision: Semi 2 – Come on Niamh!

Image by adrian, acediscovery via Flickr Tonight sees the second of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Finals. Again 17 countries are competing for 10 places in the Grand Prix on Saturday. Tonight will also see Niamh Kavanagh represent Ireland for the second time. She is strongly tipped to qualify. Hopefully she will do us...
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OpenFM

May 27, 2010
By Stephen
OpenFM

Yesterday I met with Sam Lyons and Emma Carroll of OpenFM a temporary station that will be broadcast in Dublin over the pride season and will also be online. The idea behind the station is to create an open space for discussion on LGBT issues, mental health issues and anything else. It wants to...
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Liveblogging the Eurovision!

May 25, 2010
By Stephen
Liveblogging the Eurovision!

Image via Wikipedia So the time is upon us! Tonight sees the first of the live Eurovision Song Contest shows on our TV screens. It is starting at 8pm (RTÉ 2 and BBC3). The running order for Semi-final 1 is here. ESCIreland.com will be running a live blog of the Semi and it should...
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A European Army??

May 24, 2010
By Stephen
A European Army??

Image via Wikipedia Last Tuesday I attended the Alliance Francaise de Cork/UCC European Symposium. In the afternoon we split into round-tables. I went along to the round-table entitled “The Question of the European Army”. This round-table was led by Quentin Perret of Atelier Europe, Nevin Power and Frank O’Callaghan. Quentin seemed to be on...
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Explaining the European Union to Students

May 12, 2010
By Stephen
Explaining the European Union to Students

Image via Wikipedia Today I had the joy of joining members of the European Movement Ireland in part of their schools roadshow on the European Union. Today we visited Colaiste Mhuire in Crosshaven. Leading the show was Andrea Pappin, the Executive Director, and she was joined with by Billie Sparks, the Education and Advocacy...
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The Con/Lib Agreement on Europe

May 12, 2010
By Stephen
The Con/Lib Agreement on Europe

Image via Wikipedia My last post had a quick look at what the Con/Lib Agreement said on Political Reform. Now look at what should be a what the Agreement says on the EU. As a Euroblogger I probably should have done this first! The UK will not join the Euro. No surprise there. They...
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Some points from the Conservative and Liberal Agreement: Political Reform

May 12, 2010
By Stephen
Some points from the Conservative and Liberal Agreement: Political Reform

Image via Wikipedia The Liberal Democrats have posted the agreement online. Here are some of things that jump out at me on Political Reform. We agree to establish a committee to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation. The parties agree to the establishment...
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The 17th Member of the Eurozone: Estonia

May 12, 2010
By Stephen
The 17th Member of the Eurozone: Estonia

Image via Wikipedia Estonia is set to join the Eurozone on the 1st of January 2011 according to the Irish Times. Estonia was given the all clear by the European Commission. Estonia will be the fifth of the 2004 intake to join the common currency following Slovenia in 2007, Malta and Cyprus in 2008...
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