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The State Of Us
''The State of Us'' is a four-part mockumentary which was broadcast on Irish television channel RTÉ One on Sunday nights at 21:40. It stars Risteárd Cooper, well known in Ireland for his part in the ''Après Match'' sketches. It was created and written by Cooper and Gerard Stembridge and focuses on the clash between politicians and the media. It is filmed mostly in and around RTÉ Television Centre in Montrose. The first episode was broadcast on Sunday 22 April 2007. Each episode focuses on a key Irish issue, with topics covered including the transport crisis, the health service debate and the justice portfolio. It was commissioned for broadcast at the time of the build-up to the 2007 general election. The show poked fun at well-known media personalities including '' Late Late Show'' host Pat Kenny, retired chat-show host Gay Byrne, radio and television personality Gerry Ryan, '' Nationwide'' presenter Michael Ryan, sports commentator George Hamilton (who is parodied as a ...
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Gerard Stembridge
Gerard "Gerry" Stembridge (born 1958, County Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish writer, director and actor. He was educated at CBS Sexton Street in Limerick and later at Castleknock College. While attending University College Dublin, he was auditor of the Literary and Historical Society. He taught English and drama at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Clontarf. Radio He reached significant prominence in Ireland when he co-created the satirical comedy radio programme ''Scrap Saturday'' with Dermot Morgan. It became one of the most popular programmes on RTÉ Radio. Film career Stembridge wrote the screenplay for ''Ordinary Decent Criminal'' (which starred Kevin Spacey and Linda Fiorentino). He co-wrote ''Nora'', a film about James Joyce and Nora Barnacle which starred Ewan McGregor and Susan Lynch. He has directed such films as ''Guiltrip'', ''Black Day at Black Rock'', ''Alarm'' and ''About Adam''. Playwright A selection of his plays include *''1992'' *''Betrayals'' *''Ceau ...
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Fintan O'Toole
Fintan O'Toole (born 16 February 1958) is a polemicist, literary editor, journalist and drama critic for ''The Irish Times'', for which he has written since 1988. O'Toole was drama critic for the ''New York Daily News'' from 1997 to 2001 and is a regular contributor to ''The New York Review of Books''. He is also an author, literary critic, historical writer and political commentator. O'Toole was born in Dublin, grew up in a working-class family and was educated at University College Dublin. In 2011, he was named by ''The Observer'' as one of "Britain's top 300 intellectuals", although he does not live in the UK. In 2012 and 2013 O'Toole was a visiting lecturer in Irish letters at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey and contributed to the Fund for Irish Studies Series. Early life and career O'Toole was born in Dublin and was educated at Scoil Íosagáin and Coláiste Chaoimhín in Crumlin (both run by the Christian Brothers) and at University College Dublin. He grad ...
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Martin Cullen
Martin Cullen (born 2 November 1954) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism from 2008 to 2010, Minister for Social and Family Affairs from 2007 to 2008, Minister for Transport from 2004 to 2007, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2002 to 2004 and Minister of State at the Department of Finance from 1997 to 2002. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford constituency from 1987 to 1989 and from 1992 to 2010. He was a Senator from 1989 to 1992, after being nominated by the Taoiseach. Background, early and private life Martin Cullen was born in Waterford in 1954. He was educated at Waterpark College and the Regional Technical College, Waterford. He is married and has four children – three sons and one daughter. However, in late 2004 he stated that he was separated from his wife, Dorthe. Cullen's father and grandfather had been Mayor of Waterford, a position Martin Cullen himself later ...
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Gerry Adams
Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he followed the policy of abstentionism as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the British Parliament for the Belfast West constituency. Adams first became involved in Irish republicanism in the late 1960s, and had been an established figure in Irish activism for more than a decade before his 1983 election to Parliament. In 1984, Adams was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt by several gunmen from the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), including John Gregg. From the late 1980s onwards, he was an important figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, entering into talks initially with Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume and then subsequently with the Irish and Britis ...
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Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith. Its members founded the revolutionary Irish Republic and its parliament, the First Dáil, during the Irish War of Independence. The party split in the aftermath of the Irish Civil War, giving rise to the two traditionally dominant parties of southern Irish politics: Fianna Fáil, and Cumann na nGaedheal (which became Fine Gael). For several decades the remaining Sinn Féin organisation was small without parliamentary representation. Another split in 1970 at the start of the Troubles led to the Sinn Féin of today, with the other faction eventually becoming the Workers' Party. During the Troubles, Sinn Féin was associated with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). For most of that conflict, there were broadcasting bans on Si ...
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Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2011, Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Labour and Department of Education with responsibility for Youth Affairs from 1986 to 1987. He served as Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo West from 1975 to 1997 and for Mayo from 1997 to 2020. Kenny led Fine Gael to a historic victory at the 2011 general election, his party becoming the largest in the country for the first time, forming a coalition government with the Labour Party on 9 March 2011. He subsequently became the first Fine Gael member to be elected Taoiseach for a second consecutive term on 6 May 2016, after two months of negotiations, following the 2016 election, forming a Fine Gael-led minority government. He was the ...
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Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann and largest in terms of Irish members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of 25,000 in 2021. Leo Varadkar succeeded Enda Kenny as party leader on 2 June 2017 and as Taoiseach on 14 June; Kenny had been leader since 2002, and Taoiseach since 2011. Fine Gael was founded on 8 September 1933 following the merger of its parent party Cumann na nGaedheal, the National Centre Party and the Army Comrades Association. Its origins lie in the struggle for Irish independence and the pro-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War, with the party claiming the legacy of Michael Collins. In its early years, the party was commonly known as ''Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party'', abbreviated ''UIP'', and its official title in ...
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Joan Burton
Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2014, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Social Welfare from 1993 to 1994. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency from 1992 to 1997 and 2002 to 2020. Burton was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election. From 1995 to 1997, she was Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs. She lost her seat at the 1997 general election, but was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2002 general election. She was deputy leader of the Labour Party under Eamon Gilmore, between 2007 and 2014. She was Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) from 2014 to 2016 and Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016. She resigne ...
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Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 1994 to 1997. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from 1989 to 2016. Early life Patrick Rabbitte was born near Claremorris in 1949, and was brought up in Woodstock, Ballindine, County Mayo. He was educated locally at St Colman's College, Claremorris before emigrating to Britain to find employment. He returned shortly afterward to attend University College Galway (UCG) where he studied Arts and Law. Whilst at university, Rabbitte became involved in several college movements before serving as President of the UCG Students' Union in 1970–1971. He achieved national attention while serving, between 1972 and 1974, as President of the national Union of Students in Ireland (USI). Following the completion of hi ...
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Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party ( ga, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin, and William O'Brien (trade unionist), William O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress, it describes itself as a "democratic socialist party" in its constitution. Labour continues to be the political arm of the Irish trade union and labour movement and seeks to represent workers' interests in the Dáil and on a local level. Unlike many other Irish political parties, Labour did not arise as a faction of History of Sinn Féin, the original Sinn Féin party, although it incorporated Democratic Left (Ireland), Democratic Left in 1999, a party that traced its origins back to Sinn Féin. The party has served as a partner in coalition governments on eight occasions since its formation: seven times in coaliti ...
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Michael McDowell (politician)
Michael McDowell (born 1 May 1951) is an Irish Independent politicians in Ireland, Independent politician and barrister who has served as a Seanad Éireann, Senator for the National University of Ireland (constituency), National University since April 2016. He previously served as Tánaiste from 2006 to 2007, Minister for Justice (Ireland), Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform from 2002 to 2007, Progressive Democrats, Leader of the Progressive Democrats from 2006 to 2007 and Attorney General of Ireland from 1999 to 2002. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency), Dublin South-East constituency from 1987 to 1989, 1992 to 1997 and 2002 to 2007. A grandson of Irish revolutionary Eoin MacNeill, McDowell was a founding member of the Progressive Democrats in the mid-1980s. On three occasions he was elected as a Teachta Dála, TD for the Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency), Dublin South-East constituency, serving in the Members of the ...
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Tánaiste
The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD, who was appointed on 17 December 2022. Under the Gaelic system of tanistry, the word (plural , , approximately ) had been used for the heir of the chief () or king (). The word was adopted in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland as the title for a member of the government nominated by the Taoiseach to act in their place as needed during periods of the Taoiseach's temporary absence. Tánaiste is the official title of the deputy head of government in both English and Irish, and is not used for other countries' deputy prime ministers, who are referred to in Irish by the generic term , , approximately . The longer Irish form, , is sometimes used in English instead of "the Tánaiste". Overview The office was created ...
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