Decs Rambling

Feck

2012-06-15T10:37:00.001+01:00

Spain: 4 - Ireland: 0

What the hell? Sure it was always going to be a challenge but last night was brutal.

Galaxy Envy

2012-06-13T12:11:00.002+01:00

I had the opportunity to play with a Samsung Galaxy SIII at the weekend and I have to say I was very impressed.

Despite my fears that the phone would be too big it feels fine in the hand. In fact it is strikingly thin and light. Thinner than my iPhone 4. The screen is huge, especially when compared to the iPhone 4. The quality of the display is amazing, beautiful, bright and clear. Android runs smoothly and the widgets have plenty of space without taking over the page. It completely blows away my old work Sony Xperia X-10. Android on that phone was a nightmare of sluggish responses and poor applications but the Samsung Galaxy SIII shows how far the technology has progressed in a couple of years.

The case itself is a little too plastic.I am worried about dropping my glass backed iPhone but it always feel solid. I'd be a little afraid of sitting on a Galaxy SIII and snapping it in half. No doubt it is more sturdy than I think but that was the initial impression I was left with.

The built in camera app was impressive, with a burst mode that entertained for a few minutes but did produce lots of motion blur in low light indoor situations. The S-Voice application struggled to cope with my accent when I asked longer questions but was well able to cope with short statements. I haven't used Siri and to be honest I dislike the idea of calling instructions to my phone, especially in public, but while driving it would be useful. My iPhone 4 voice control is worse than useless and trying to get it to play certain tracks rarely works. I never use it to make calls since it always dials the wrong people. S-Voice coped better so maybe there is a future that doesn't involve me shouting obscenities at my phone while in the car.

This is the first Android phone I've used that made me think "wow, that's better than my iPhone". If I was starting out now I'd probably choose the Galaxy SIII over the iPhone. I'm sucked into the Apple eco-system now so it'll take a lot to make me switch. The iPhone 4S is a two year old design and despite it's beautiful glass and metal case which far exceeds the plastic Galaxy SIII's case it is now showing it's age when it comes to size. I think Apple need to address this in the iPhone 5 and while I doubt they will produce a phone with a screen as large as the Galaxy SIII they will certainly have to go beyond the current 3.5 inches.

It's not easy being Green

2012-06-11T11:22:00.000+01:00

This morning an Irish Radio Station played a snippet of Kermit the Frog singing It's Not Easy Being Green and that pretty much summed up the mood of the people around me. After last nights performance in Poznan it's not easy being an Irish fan.

I don't mind so much that they lost, patriotism aside the reality of the situation was Ireland is the underdog of the group, but it was the manner of that loss that hurt the most. If you are going to play a defensive game that's OK so long as your defensive players step up and get between the opposition players and the goal. Instead there were moments when the ball seemed to be rolling around the Irish penalty box with Irish players staring at it afraid to take responsibility and kick it away. Our attack wasn't much better, passing the ball around afraid to take responsibility themselves and have a shot. Keith Andrews seemed to be the designated kicker on the night as in fairness to him he did have a few shots but they all flew away from goal like a beach ball being kicked into a hurricane.

We can point to the referee for a couple of bad decisions, a Croat goal that should have been offside or a free out and a penalty for Ireland that could have seen the score change from 3-1 to 2-2 but if that had happened the Croats would have been right to feel robbed and I doubt the score would have finished at 2-2 more likely 4-2 in their favour. They outclassed us and we were lucky they didn't score even more. That said their defense looked shaky at times and their goal keeper did not strike me as very solid, they will struggle against Italy and Spain with players who want to score.

The 20,000 fans who travelled for the game deserved better. The video of grown men in tears should be shown to the players this morning and they should be asked if this is the memory they want the country to take from these championships. They are better than they showed last night. No one expects them to qualify from the group anymore but they can at least show up in the Spain and Italy games. I'll still be wearing green and shouting for them, the whole country will.

How big is too big?

2012-05-04T14:18:00.000+01:00

I was a little surprised when I saw the coverage of the new Samsung Galaxy S-III phone to read that they had increased the screen to 4.8 inches. Not being a Samsung user I hadn't followed the rumours but I was impressed the screen on it's predecessor, the S-II, owned by colleagues and friends, but I did think that the downside of such a nice screen was a case that was just a little too big.

Now the S-III has actually grown larger and granted while I haven't seen it in the flesh, the idea of a phone bigger than the S-II does not fill me with confidence.Look at Engadget for a comparison of the Galaxy phones.

I'll have to go into a shop when it's released to feel the phone in my hand but from the pictures it appears the new Galaxy S-III might fall into the "phablet" bracket, something between a phone and a tablet. Too big for a phone and too small for a tablet.

At the same time the iPhones 4S screen is looking a little old and small these days, but there has to be a happy medium between a small 3.5 inch screen and a cumbersome 4.8 inch screen? I'm sure some people will love the larger size of the Galaxy S-III but personally I hope the iPhone 5 sports a screen closer in size to the 4.3inch Galaxy S-II.but somehow managing to pack it into a smaller case.

Some times I wonder

2012-04-27T15:14:00.001+01:00

This morning as I left for work it was raining so I flicked on the wipers to clear the windshield and was greeted by the sight of two bare metal bars moving up and down. Turns out some gobshite had stolen my wipers and, when I checked the rest of the car, one hub cap. They had tried to take my neighbours wipers as well but seem to have failed. According to the local auto shop other cars in the area had been targeted as well last night.

They weren't taking wipers for their own car since they had targeted different makes of car and what use is one dirty hub cap, apart from making me have to go buy a pack of 4 new ones and end up with 3 spares? I guess basically they were just doing it for kicks knowing they were pissing the owners off, making us late for work and costing us money to replace the items taken.

Is there anything you do with a bag full of different brand wipers and hub caps that could be classed by sane, normal, people as fun? Is there a secret resale market for used windshield wipers? At €7 each in my local store for new ones I'm guessing worn, year old ones don't have a huge underground black market. Hopefully they have gotten their dirty wiper fetish out of their system now.

Household Charge Protest

2012-04-01T18:49:00.001+01:00

Household Charge Protest, a set on Flickr.

My photos from the Household Protest in Dublin yesterday

St Patricks Day 2012

2012-03-19T23:00:00.001Z

St Patricks Day 2012, a set on Flickr.

My photos from the Dublin St Patricks Day Parade. 85 might seem like a lot but it took me hours to cut it down to this many from over 1100 :-)

Sean, leave it

2012-03-12T21:26:00.000Z

I have to wonder what Sean Gallagher thinks he's going to achieve by calling for a public inquiry into the tweet that was read out during the Frontline Presidential Debate? Ok it was wrong and his campaign was completely derailed by it but what good will an inquiry do him now?

In the aftermath of the election it's become clear that the tweet was a fake and that Gallagher was hard done by. The BAI found in his favour and he could easily claim it proved his innocence. If the election was run now he might do better but he still wouldn't win, in the end many people were put off by the whole Fianna Fail connection not just the question of wether or not he'd picked up a donation for the party. That said if he did decide to run for the Dail then he might actually have a shot at it. A high profile, intelligent candidate he'd get enough former Fianna Fail voters on his side to get a quota from somewhere.

So why keep the issue in the headlines now? What would a public inquiry achieve except to provide employment for some of the Mahon Tribunal lawyers about to be released from the teet of that golden calf? It will also draw attention to his involvement in Fianna Fail, the logical defence for RTE on the tweet issue is to explain that it was an easy mistake to make given Gallaghers involvement in Fianna Fail and then follow it up with more examples of Gallaghers party activities. Innocent or not if the media keeps showing us pictures of him with the likes of Ahern and Cowen or at party events eventually the public will begin to see him as just another Fianna Fail failure and he'll scare away those who would vote for him as a man different from the others.

Maybe it's time for someone in his campaign team to take him out for coffee and say "Sean, leave it, you can fight the battle at the next election".

These ones go to 12

2012-02-08T10:30:00.002Z

I was trying to explain the benefits of my new stronger nespresso capsules to people in work this morning. About half way through I realised I was standing there saying how great they were because unlike the others capsules these ones go to 12...

Netflix is here

2012-01-10T10:19:00.000Z

Netflix launched in Ireland yesterday and I was quick in to sign up. Of course the fact that the first month is free and after that there is a month by month subscription of just €6.99 meant there really isn't much of a down side at the moment (at least not one I can see). I get to try the service for free, and if I don't like it I just unsubscribe before February 8th. Usually I'm one who believes if it sounds too good to be true then it is too good to be true but this one seems an exception.

The TV at home was already reserved for some standard programming delivery but I did manage to grab a few minutes to check out the integration on my Apple TV which worked perfectly. Its a little hard to believe Apple allow Netflix to integrate so well on its device, however since Apple don't offer a TV service here and Netflix seems to offer older movies I guess the overlap in this market is not as bad as I would imagine it is in the US. With Netflix apparently in some difficulty in the US market perhaps it would be a candidate for a take over by Apple?

The Netflix sign on process was tightly integrated with Facebook but if you log out of Facebook the option exists to sign up via email. I didn't realise this at the time but after signing up I went into Facebook and changed the Netflix apps access. Later I found an option in my Netflix account to disconnect from Facebook so I did that as well and the Facebook suggestions disappeared from my feed. People who I am friends with on Facebook may still see my ratings if they are also subscribed to Netflix as well but I dont add people on Facebook that I dont know and I've probably discussed movies or TV shows with most of them at some stage.

The one thing I was a little dissapointed with was the choice of shows. The volume is a little low. There are some there that we intend to watch and were about to purchase on DVD or iTunes Canada to catch up on earlier seasons (Breaking Bad and Dexter). Cracker was also on TV on Sunday night and Lauren had not seen it before. Those are there and should easily justify a Netflix subscription for a few months. There are also several movies we'd happily watch so we have no problem paying for the service until we've run out of those shows but then I don't know. The Co-founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, was on the radio early this morning and when asked about this problem he spoke about how great shows like Prison Break and Breaking Bad are but didn't give any indication on plans to add new ones.

I havent had the opportunity to actually spend a long time watching anything so I cant really give an opinion on the quality of the service. In theory it should work and I'm not a HD/audio nut so my sole criteria is that it streams without stutter. That is more a feature of my broadband connection, Apple iTunes does work, most of the time, only going down when my connection goes down so I would expect Netflix to do the same. IF it doesnt then I'll be unsubscribing.

Still I shouldn't complain, I've now got the opportunity to watch several shows I wanted to catch up on, for free or far cheaper than the DVD or iTunes price.

The Euro on an Odyssey?

2012-01-03T14:02:00.000Z

There is a new €2 coin being released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Euro. Something about the common design struct me as familiar and then I realised, it's Discovery from 2001 a Space Odyssey

Doolin

2012-01-01T23:08:00.000Z

I figure with a New Year I should try to catch up on some of the photos sitting on my computer for the last couple of months. To start here are a few photos from a trip to Clare and Doolin.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T15:19:00.002Z

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope Santa was nice to you all.

iTV

2011-12-08T16:07:00.000Z

I like to keep an eye on the Apple rumour and gossip sites to see what new technology I will be lusting after in a few months. The current favourite product that doesn't exist yet but is being designed by rumour is an Apple iTV. Like all things Apple, if it's on a website and someone has a "reliable" source who says the new product "will have feature X,Y and Z" you can be reasonably certain that is is either all made up or a proof of concept device that wont actually make it to development so the security teams stopped watching it.

Apple have a track record of producing products that answer a problem in a way that no one expects and I hope that this will be the case an iTV. Personally I don't see Apple producing a range of large screen TVs. They would be entering a market that is saturated with good products already available at every size, price and quality range. How would an Apple screen be different from a Sony screen? The problem is not the physical TV itself but the content and how it is managed and controlled. We may be better looking at existing the Apple TV 2 for an idea of how any iTV could work.

First content will need to be addressed. The current Apple TV is useful for renting movies or streaming content from my MacBook or iPad but I cant get TV on it in Ireland. If Apple enter the TV market in a strong way they are going to have to improve the content that is available outside the States. Apple could sign a deal with the studios to provide world wide access to their shows and the back catalogues at a reasonable price for the viewer then they would be onto a winner. Next they are still going to have to make it possible for the local channels to get content onto the box. For example, I may not watch RTE much but I'll still want to watch the news and special shows like the Late Late Toy Show live and not on an RTE Player type service.

Second, how that content is managed will also need to be looked at. My broadband like many others is not the fastest so movies take a while to download, even for streaming. The user will need to have the ability to store some shows locally either downloaded or "recorded" in advance and can be viewed on demand. The Internet is great but Internet providers are not. You don't need to be able to store 100 hours of The West Wing for those days when you are bored but you do need to be able to press a button and watch tonight's episode of The Walking Dead when you get home late. Waiting for a download to complete or the stream to buffer is going to ruin the experience.

How its controlled is a more fun but potentially more annoying issue. Voice recognition with Siri is not going to work on its own, especially when you want to browse randomly through the channels. Try sitting in front of the TV tonight browsing channels and every time you press channel up say "Channel Up". You'll get pissed off very quickly, though not as quickly as the other people in the room with you. The existing Apple Remote is quite nice and simple but it is difficult to type in anything. A combination of the two would work but the more interesting controller would be a Kinect type motion sensor. Waving your hand left or right in a page turning motion to spin through a coverflow of channels and shows. If you have an iOS device look at the coverflow of music and imagine if each cover was showing a live feed of a TV channel. Then there could be a press type motion to select the channel. If the volume is too loud just gesture down with your hand as if you were telling a friend to lower their voice. Other motions would need more work, off/mute/pause but perhaps that's where Siri would come in.

(Update: I wrote most of this post last night and then this afternoon I saw this patent application from Apple)

If Apple produced that devcice similar to the existing Apple TV 2 hockey puck, with a microphone, video/movement sensor and access to a huge online library of shows I'd buy it in a heart beat. That way Apple could deliver a new TV experience to a mass market without having to produce the TVs themselves.

Not so bad after all

2011-12-07T10:00:00.001Z

All the speculation and spin in the run up to the budget was that we were about to be crucified and I fully expected lots of pain but instead Michael Noonan pulled a delaying tactic by getting just enough out of consumption taxes and other changes to avoid hitting income.

It's probably a smart move for two reasons. People spend what they think they will have, a 2% increase in VAT will hurt but if people saw their pay packets 2% lighter in January that would have hurt more and many would have cut spending even more. Secondly we are not really in control of our financial future. This budget is a side show on the collapse or not of the Euro. The government could have made a series of unpopular decisions only to have the situation deteriorate or improve at the next EU summit.

To a degree they have kicked the can down the road hoping that by the time budget 2013 comes along things will be better but if they are not then they will be able to blame the EU for unpopular income tax increases.

The Metro Herald headline summed it up this morning "It could have been worse"

3 Day Budget

2011-12-06T12:05:00.001Z

So the government has started well on it's 3 day budget. It's clear that the simplest way to tackle the issues faced by the nation is to divide up the budget into 3 separate parts and announce the cuts and pain that particular income groupd in the population will suffer.

Day 1: The Poor - Cuts to health, social welfare, justice and education.

Day 2: The Middle Income - Probable increases in VAT, excise, motor tax, carbon taxes and a new property tax on homes.

Day 3: The Higher Earners - This is the big one, a new higher income tax bracket. Cuts to senior civil servant and politicians pensions, taxes on bonuses...

Oh, whats that you say? There is no time for 3 days? Well I suppose we'll just hit the poor and the middle this year and next year try to fit in something for the higher earners. In the mean time if you are a Fine Gael supporter Enda will be giving out jobs and pay increases round the back of Government Buildings after the budget speech, just dont tell anyone.

I have nothing against the idea cuts and tax increases, we need to do something to fix the economy. But it feels to me like the pain is not being shared equally. You only need to look at the cuts in yesterdays budget and compare it to the cuts in politicians pensions then look at the proposals for tax increases in todays budget and compare it to a PR consultants salary increase to see that there really is a two tier economy, the governed and the governing. If we do not spread the pain fairly and evenly then the resentment and bitterness that is built up will be the main legacy of this government.

Update: Wow, I got that completely wrong.

Enda to kill Christmas?

2011-11-29T10:18:00.001Z

I was surprised yesterday when I read a story on Facebook explaining how Enda Kenny was about to address the nation to outline the dismal state of our economy and how much extra we will have to pay in this years budget. I wasnt surprised at the fact that he would address the nation but at the abismal timing of it: during the ad break before the Late Late Toy Show

For those who dont know, the Late Late Toy Show is a sweet part of most Irish peoples childhood Christmas. We all grew up watching it and most of us of all ages will still sit down on Friday night to watch it bring out our inner child again. Scheduling a depressing state of the nation before it would be a bit like announcing an outbreak of bird flu 5 minutes before Americans sit down to enjoy their turkey dinner at thanks giving or going on TV to announce an immediate ban on suggary food just before showing Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The Civil Servants around Kenny are apparently concerned ratings would not be high enough during the rest of the weekend. I suppose breaking into XFactor is not an option? Is Simon Cowel more powerful than Santa? Is the music industry more important than the toy industry? These are the same Civil Servants who got us into this mess and who still insist on being paid enormous salaries, fantastic pensions and automatic promotions to even better jobs. They live in a fantasy land but they seem determined to destroy everyone elses little dreams and fantasies. Let the nation have its Christmas, you have taken everything else from us.

I hope they see sense and reschedule it. Kenny will be a figure of derision and hatred if he announces tax increases and budget cuts just before people sit down to start their Christmas season.

Soccer is the new Rugby?

2011-11-15T23:08:00.001Z

10 years? Has it really been 10 years since we last qualified for a major soccer tournament? It only seems like a couple of years ago since we were fighting the Roy v Mick civil war in Saipan. Then we had a long old spell in the wilderness but we're back now. Poland in 2012 will sure be something to look forward to, I wonder if Ryanair have jacked up the prices already :-)

Books

2011-11-02T10:06:00.000Z

We went away to Co. Clare for the weekend and stayed in a hotel which falls into the "modern but trying to appear old" bracket. In one of the alcoves of the bar was a bookshelf stacked with old hardback books no one ever bothers to read. In the bottom corner of the bookshelf was a stack of even older looking, worn and tatty books. These looked far more interesting so I snapped a photo of them. I didnt try to read any of them because the pile looked a little too precarious to be messed with. For all I know they could have been made in China last year, treated to look old and sold in a Hotel Bits and Bobs market but I liked them.

Aras 2011

2011-10-27T11:21:00.000+01:00

Voting day has finally arrived and since 2pm yesterday the broadcast media has had to avoid discussing the candidates. I'm not sure if a broadcast ban is really relevant these days since the internet and print media do not have the same restrictions and these days many people get a substantial amount of their news online and so can continue to read about election. The broadcasting ban may give us some peace quiet in the day before voting but it doesnt really achieve much else.

Either way ban or no ban, my choice is already made, I'll be voting for Michael D Higgins because I feel he better fits the role of President. In the end it was as simple as that. The President is a ceremonial position, they need to represent the state with dignity and poise, they need to be above the politicians who go to them looking for seals of office. Michael D for all his quirks appears to me to be the right person for the job. While some of the candidates had strong points I think they would be better suited to life in the Dail than in the Aras. Others should have been content to make a difference outside the Aras and will leave this election with their reputations tarnished without ever having a realistic chance or getting elected or even getting their expenses back.

Regardless of who you vote for you should go out to vote, it's a right, a privilege and a duty. It is something that people around the world fight and die for even today, dont waste it.

Occupy Dublin

2011-10-25T10:51:00.004+01:00

Here is a photo I took outside the Central Bank a couple of weeks ago where the Occupy Dame Street Protestors are living in tents to protest against capatilism. I'm not sure exactly what their goal is and what will get them to stop the protest in Dublin. Do they want to close down the Central Bank, redistribute all wealth or just raise awareness? Why are they at the Central Bank instead of the IFSC which would more closely reflect the Occupy Wall Street image? I'm not clear but sure maybe we could all do with some of their passion in our lives, maybe not the protesting but just being that dedicated to a cause or an interest. Though volunteering to live in a small tent on nights like last night when Dublin suffered 100 year floods requires a level dedication, passion and more than a touch of the crazy that I could never have.

iOS 5

2011-10-16T22:53:00.001+01:00

I've been playing with iOS5 for a while and I've come to two conclusions on it. First it's a great update on the iPad. Second its a bit of a let down update on the iPhone.

iOS 5 on the iPad is actually a nice step forward. There are lots of headline features but the three I've found myself using regularly are the notifications on the lock screen, newsstand and the multi-touch gestures. Notifications are actually very useful and I've now find that I have my iPad in a stand beside my monitor and I can see when an email, twitter of Facebook message pops in. Newsstand I assumed would be a gimmick and perhaps it will be but I currently have two newspapers installed for free (the Guardian trial and metro) and I do find myself reading them. I feel the novelty could wear off and I'll go back to just reading the websites. Finally the killer update for me is the multi-touch gestures. Swiping up with 4 fingers to access multitasking, swiping across to switch apps and pinching to close apps have become my usual way of navigating apps.

On the other hand (no pun intended) the multi-touch gestures don't work on the iPhone 4, where I actually need them because my home button is acting up a little so I'd like an alternative to pressing it, especially the double tap to open multitasking. I can understand that the screen is a little small and fiddly for 4 finger gestures but Apple could at least have given us the option. To not have it there is a let when compared to the iPad. The notification system is the one update on the iPhone I regularly use and like.

Other features like wifi sync, and reminders may become party of my day to day use but haven't yet. The photo editing tool is simply too late to the game since I'm already using Photoshop Express and Snapseed. Airplay mirroring to the Apple TV might prove useful some time but it's not something I have a use for at the moment. My wife and I might use iMessage but she's rather sensibly banned me from updating her 3GS at least for now. She doesn't want any of the other new features and doesn't want anything to change so she's happy to stay a version behind until everyone else tests the OS.

All in all iOS 5 isn't a bad upgrade. It's adds some useful features, especially for the iPad but most importantly it's free so it is pointless to complain about anything. Like the iPhone 4S it seems like an incremental update but then again iOS works and works well so we'd all probably complain more if Apple changed it.

Autumn 2011

2011-10-14T00:03:00.000+01:00

Something good seems to have come from the economic collapse, we still have St Stephens Green (at least for another autumn). The plans for Metro North and the Dart Interconnector seem to have been put on hold if not cancelled so there is no need to dig up the Green and build a train station.

Steve Jobs RIP

2011-10-06T15:44:00.002+01:00

Every morning when I wake the first thing I do is check my iPhone for the news. I suppose that was indeed a fitting way to learn about the untimely passing of Steve Jobs, the man who gave us the iPhone and set the standard by which smartphones, tablets, PCs and laptops are measured today.

I am an Apple fan. I have owned all the iPhone versions up to and including 4. I own the iPad2, a classic iPod, Apple TV 2, a MacBook Pro, my wife uses a MacBook Air and the whole lot are connected using an Airport Extreme. We don't buy DVDs anymore, we rent from iTunes. My CDs are in a box under the stairs, replaced by iTunes as well. I'm sure many people will tell me that in each case a better device exists for numerous technical reasons. However I chose the Apple device because they are the best fit for what I want.

Steve's genius wasn't in inventing the first device in a class (the iPod wasn't the first MP3 Player, the iPad was not the first tablet device) or even the device with the most features (no Flash), it was in looking at a market and creating something to meet that need and something that would in a short amount of time come to define that market. He will be missed by many who never met him but who have grown accustomed to his genius.

Presidental?

2011-10-05T11:23:00.002+01:00

I watched the Presidential Debate last night on TV3 and the previous one last Friday on RTE. I have to say at this stage that this election is more about mistakes than issues.

The role of the President is a figurehead role and we currently have 7 candidates in the running. At this stage with just over 3 weeks to go there are, realistically, only 4 candidates still in the race, Michael D Higgins, Gay Mitchell, Martin McGuinness and Sean Gallagher.

Higgins is clearly head and shoulders above the rest, even if he is 2 feet shorter than the others. His biggest win so far has been staying out of the scraps and acting presidential. He demonstrates a clear knowledge of the role and the constitution and sometimes comes across as the wise teacher explaining to the other candidates why they are wrong in what they said. No one wants to be seen attacking a small old man so the others are scared to even look at him the wrong waay. A good candidate on his own, he was always going to be in the running right to the end but now he might just win easily because the others knock themselves out.

Mitchell and McGuinness are taking lumps out of each other and really need to focus on the campaign because at this stage they are not fighting for the win they, are fighting for 2nd and 3rd place, 4th if they keep dragging each other down and let Gallagher get ahead. With the success of the peace process McGuinness had some appeal outside the Sinn Fein core vote but his constant focus on Northern Ireland issues and achievements in interviews will begin to grate on the voters in the Republic of Ireland, where he is running. His IRA past was always going to be an issue but voters thought they knew about it and many had gotten past it. He has now confused the situation by denying his membership after 1974 and created doubt in peoples minds.

Mitchell is an interview train wreck. His campaign is completely focused on taking down McGuinness and while he's achieving that goal he is not actually winning votes for himself. When talking about himself he constantly repeats tales of woe from his youth that could have come from a Frank McCourt or Alice Taylor novel. Asked about the role of the President he talks about suicide prevention, an admirable goal but he could just volunteer for the Samaritans. He needs something new to catch peoples interest or his campaign is doomed.

Gallagher is the surprise of the campaign for me. I thought he'd pick up some votes from the younger voters and business people and finish 6th or even as high as 5th but last weekend he struck a cord with my retired parents who were impressed with his focus on creating jobs. The older generation, who will vote, are worried about their children having to emigrate so the jobs creation message resonates with them. Gallagher however needs to push himself forward more. There is no point in having a message if you don't tell anyone about it. Also while he denies his FF past many people out there have a history of voting for FF and like Gallagher now claim to have disowned the party. That is a voting pool he could tap into with a "We made mistakes in the past, lets learn from them" message.

The other three, Dana Rosemary Scallon, Mary Davis and David Norris are performing so badly that if they were in an American Presidential Primary race they would have pulled out. Unfortunately at this stage I suspect they are hanging on in the hope of getting enough votes to get some of their election expenses paid by the state.

Dana seems to wave the constitutions of Ireland and the European Union in response to every question. She is also starting to sound like a conspiracy theory nut and really doesn't seem to understand what the President can and cant do.

Mary Davis, seems to be caught up in her own airbrushed self image. The Special Olympics was a great achievement but she got paid for it and being on 23 State boards regardless of who appointed her just makes her sound like a friend of Bertie. Also her posters just annoy me. The head shot looks like a completely different person and the full body shot has text too small to read so it looks like a viral advert for Special K. She should fire who ever designed them.

David Norris, God love him he's just in free fall. He started this campaign as a respected elder statesman with a track record of campaigning on many important issues. He is going to end it being chewed up and spat out. He should have known his own personal history and should never have entered the campaign and he certainly should never have reentered it.

I still haven't decided who I'll vote for but Higgins is my favourite at the moment and Gallagher would get a 2nd preference vote, though I expect that Higgins will be in the race after Gallagher is eliminated so a preference vote wont be needed.