Niall Collins TD (FF) hits out at Labour again – why?

Another day, another pop at Labour from Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick West Niall Collins. Deputy Collins’ latest missive accuses Eamon Gilmore of isolating low-income families to court the middle-class vote.

Under Collins’ section on the Fianna Fáil website four of his last ten press releases snice April have directly attacked Labour or Eamon Gilmore in the subject title.

It’s easy to see why.

Collins will contest the new three seater Limerick constituency next time, one in which Labour’s candidate James Heffernan is expected to do well. Heffernan was a late contender for the constituency in 2007, and his party’s youngest candidate. Despite this he polled 2,227 first preference votes, and then took 2,282 in last year’s local election in the Kilmallock ward alone.

Meanwhile Collins is preoccupied with how the constituency relaignment will affect him – his page even carries the following caveat:

All sitting TD’s in this constituency are loosing [sic] significant votes gained in the 2007 general election from the area moving into North Kerry/ West Limerick constituency. Niall Collins TD is loosing 2,278 first preference votes, John Cregan TD is loosing 1,781 and Dan Neville TD (FG) is loosing 1,111 votes.

Collins will be fearful of having the dubious honour of being the first of a political dynasty to lose the family seat. His grandfather, James first won a seat in Limerick West in 1948, and since then a Collins has held a place for Fianna Fáil in the constituency, with Niall’s uncles Gerry (he of the tearful plea to Albert Reynolds not to tear the party apart in the early 90s) and Michael following suit.

Don’t expect the latest press release aimed at Labour to be the last. Collins will continue to have a go at Labour in the hope of stalling Heffernan’s momentum, and is one of many Fianna Fáil TDs who are fearful for their seats.

Do we need quotas to provide more male teachers?

Last week’s Leaving Cert results and the subsequent first round of CAO offers have naturally brought about the all too familiar bout of late August navel-gazing.

As always there is the pondering as to why maths and science subjects continue to produce sub-standard results, a topic that tends to dominate the subsequent debate in a climate that is demanding graduates that will fit the designs of a so-called ‘smart economy.’

Another old chestnut has emerged, however, that is almost now taken as a given.

According to RTE

Girls have outperformed boys in the Leaving Certificate exams once again this year.

Data compiled by the State Examinations Commission shows girls achieving more As, Bs and Cs than boys across almost all subjects and levels.

In the three core subjects, English, Irish and Maths, young women are ahead, in some cases significantly.

In Ordinary Level Irish for instance they are 14% more likely to get an A, B or C.

The gap is narrowest in Higher Level Maths, but girls are still ahead, by 1%.

The trend continues even in areas traditionally thought of as more male-orientated.

An analysis of Higher Level papers in subjects such as Applied Maths, Physics, Construction Studies and Agricultural Science shows girls well ahead in all instances.

Naturally this begs the obvious question; why is there a discrepancy between exams, in which women excel, and the workplace where they, by and large, continue to be under-represented?

While this is the most striking question to arise from this situation, it would be just as wrong to neglect the situation itself – why does this inconsistency exist in the first place?

Two years ago a study of over 1,000 men in Britain found that boys will perform better in education if they are taught by men.

During her stint as Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin expressed her concern at the number of men teaching in Irish schools.

According to that piece:

Ms Hanafin raised concerns as two out of every five primary schools in the country have no male teachers and many others have just one male teacher.

While the under-representation of women in the workplace is a wrong that has to be put right, the educational environment is in danger of an equally unwanted bias in the dwindling number of male teachers. Are quotas needed in Irish schools?

All hail our fifth best leader!

File under ‘reports written by people who don’t have to live here’ this latest gem from Newsweek who have ranked Brian Cowen 5th in their leaders who have won respect feature.

Under the heading ‘The Fiscal Taskmaster,’ Newsweek seem to have completely forgotten his tenure as Minister for Finance (the “once-roaring economy staggered by the banking crisis” is not quite explained in the piece) to credit him with ‘prescribing harsh medicine.’

Cowen: Respected.

But what’s this? A caveat? Yes it seems that “the Irish aren’t showing much gratitude–Cowen’s ratings have plunged to a mere 18 percent, and his Fianna Fail party can expect a drubbing in the 2012 national elections.”

What are we like, eh? You’d swear we knew better about our situation than someone who has to throw together several 150 word blurbs to adequately describe the economic situations in foreign countries, eh?

More disgraceful unappreciative feedback for our hero can be found in the comment section on the site, with users unfairly pointing out that Cowen was Captian of the good ship Finance for the years leading up to the boom. One wag even goes as far to say that the blurb is “akin to praising the efforts of someone who used a cup of water to douse a forest fire having previously lit the spark.”

Ingrates.