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Irish political dynasties - statistics and international comparisons

  • 05-04-2009 5:12pm
    #1
    redblue
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭


    This is such a striking feature of Irish political life that somebody must have come up with comprehensive counts and international and historical comparisons, but a Google search isn't turning anything up for me. Some rough and ready Wikipedia research on children or grandchildren of TD's or Senators in the current Dail (correct me if I'm wrong):

    * 5/15 of the current cabinet (Cowen, Coughlan, Lenihan, Ó Cuív, Hanafin)
    * The Taoiseach, Tanaiste, and Minister for Finance
    * Both the Taoiseach and the Leader of the Opposition
    * Don't know what the percentage is for TD's ,would be interested in that number.

    Where else in the world is this happening now, and where would you have to go in history for this to be the norm?

    * George W. Bush and Edward Kennedy are examples in the US. Are they representative of a broader pattern? For example, what percentage of senators or congressmen are children of political dynasties?
    * From a quick Wikipedia search, the last UK prime minister from a political dynasty seems to be Alec Douglas-Home in the early 60s. Up to that point, it was common for aristocrats like him to hold senior positions in Conservative governments.
    * How far back would one have to go in the UK for both the PM and the Leader of the Opposition to be children of political dynasties? Do we have to go back as far as Fox and Pitt in the late 1700s?
    * What countries are comparable to Ireland in this respect? Are we like other European countries, or are we more Latin American or African or Asian?


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