Unbiased (layman's) political book on Ireland..??

Gerry.L

Ive had a look on amazon but cant seem to get anything, and had a look on the sticky but it seems as though (after reading the first page anyway) its mainly international politics.

SO what Im after, is Im just a layperson with no real political understanding, but Id love to be able to converse with family and friends on the subject of Irish politics and political figures.

It would be great if the book in question took each taoiseach/(TD/President etc) and maybe gave a short bio and then explained what they did while in power (including the bad stuff). But its very very very important to me that its not a biased book...

So remember.... unbiased and aimed at the lay person..

southsiderosie

Gerry.L wrote: »

Ive had a look on amazon but cant seem to get anything, and had a look on the sticky but it seems as though (after reading the first page anyway) its mainly international politics.

SO what Im after, is Im just a layperson with no real political understanding, but Id love to be able to converse with family and friends on the subject of Irish politics and political figures.

It would be great if the book in question took each taoiseach/(TD/President etc) and maybe gave a short bio and then explained what they did while in power (including the bad stuff). But its very very very important to me that its not a biased book...

So remember.... unbiased and aimed at the lay person..

What do you mean "unbiased"? Most political books have a 'bias' in that the author is writing about a situation from a certain perspective. Can you give an example of what you would call a biased book on Irish politics?

reallyrose

I think I understand what the OP means, I'd love a similar book myself.
I'm trying to become a little more politically aware, what with the state of the country and all. I used to just read the papers, and whatever they said was fine with me. I don't think it is enough for me any more! I read the Politics forum everyday, but I'm not informed enough to post, just yet.

I would avoid a book called "Why FF is awesome, by FF TD", for a wildly exaggurated example.

You are right though, it would be difficult to find a book doesn't lean in one direction or another. Anyone who is interested enough in politics and well informed enough to write a book is going to have a political leaning.

/me roots through amazon

southsiderosie

reallyrose wrote: »

I think I understand what the OP means, I'd love a similar book myself.
I'm trying to become a little more politically aware, what with the state of the country and all. I used to just read the papers, and whatever they said was fine with me. I don't think it is enough for me any more! I read the Politics forum everyday, but I'm informed enough to post, just yet.

I would avoid a book called "Why FF is awesome, by FF TD", for a wildly exaggurated example.

You are right though, it would be difficult to find a book doesn't lean in one direction or another. Anyone who is interested enough in politics and well informed enough to write a book is going to have a political leaning.

/me roots through amazon

Yes, to be honest, the most even-handed books I've read about Ireland are the ones where they skewer everyone equally! Generally, I've read a few different books on the same topic and then come away with my own conclusions (and that goes triple for Northern Ireland).

andrewdcs

Hi,
LTLFTC to Politics.

I'd recommend for a start the Leaving Cert higher level syllabus, covers end of Grattan to 1990 I think. Also be a good point to find more university level stuff on the areas of concern, rise of widespread social conservatism and the part church, impacts of PR:STV on localism and the boundary system, incumbency of "1922" political parties and their relationships etc.

Ireland has had two massive shocks to its psyche in the past 2 years, religious and economic. It's inevitable (looking through the history of nations/cultures) that the social shock is coming.

Also, go onto UCD/Trinity/UCC/UGCs sites and look for undergrad political courses reading material. That'd be step 2.

southsiderosie

Michael Gallagher writes (or co-authors) a lot of the standard texts on Irish politics, but they can be a little...dry. TBH, I think I've learned more about Irish politics from reading the papers everyday than I have from reading books about it.

andrewdcs

southsiderosie wrote: »

Michael Gallagher writes (or co-authors) a lot of the standard texts on Irish politics, but they can be a little...dry. TBH, I think I've learned more about Irish politics from reading the papers everyday than I have from reading books about it.

There's never much in the paper about the "why" though.
Papers (supremely biased in many cases) are more current affairs and opinion rather than political discussion/outlay. i.e. its very rare to find a paper treating the development of FF's political position on social welfare cuts vs. events that brought down previous governments. How they play them out, what they've learned, likely next steps etc.

Funglegunk

Can't go wrong with this book:

Politics in the Republic of Ireland

Edit: as mentioned above, its co-authored/edited by Michael Gallagher and is the undergrad textbook for UCD Politics students. Still a good read though.

southsiderosie

andrewdcs wrote: »

There's never much in the paper about the "why" though.
Papers (supremely biased in many cases) are more current affairs and opinion rather than political discussion/outlay. i.e. its very rare to find a paper treating the development of FF's political position on social welfare cuts vs. events that brought down previous governments. How they play them out, what they've learned, likely next steps etc.

I'm not Irish, and I started learning about Ireland by reading the papers online every day, religiously. From reading the "whats" I definitely ended up with a lot of "whys".

The OP said they wanted to be able to have discussions about politics and Irish political figures. To me, that's both a what and a why. Newspapers help with the what, and in terms of the why, there are often good book reviews or special historical pieces as well. I also think that Op-Ed contributors to newspapers can be a really good source of an informed perspective on particular issues; the debate last year about "Are Ireland's Institutions Fit for Purpose?" is one example. Not every commentator in a Kevin Myers type.

That said, finding good books is important, because when I got to Ireland and started talking to people directly about politics, the general response to the "why" was something like "because FF are a bunch of ****" or "EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS!!!" :rolleyes:.

Lockstep

Funglegunk wrote: »

Can't go wrong with this book:

Politics in the Republic of Ireland

Edit: as mentioned above, its co-authored/edited by Michael Gallagher and is the undergrad textbook for UCD Politics students. Still a good read though.

Beat me to it.

Excellent book, well written and explains everything from the Constitution to the way different people vote.Seems unbiased and probably my favourite politics book.

Gerry.L

Thanks for all the replies everybody.

Can I just ask, concerning "Politics in the Republic of Ireland", Im taking a guess, it probably goes fairly deep... deeper than a layperson would want. Is that a fair thing to say?

And how does it fair out concerning politically parties and political figures and what they have done? Or is it mainly a "technical" (sorry I cant think of a better word) book.

BTW: I was talking to a mate literally an hour ago about this subject and he recommended I get Seven Ages DVD? Is this any good?

reallyrose

Gerry.L wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies everybody.

Can I just ask, concerning "Politics in the Republic of Ireland", Im taking a guess, it probably goes fairly deep... deeper than a layperson would want. Is that a fair thing to say?

And how does it fair out concerning politically parties and political figures and what they have done? Or is it mainly a "technical" (sorry I cant think of a better word) book.

BTW: I was talking to a mate literally an hour ago about this subject and he recommended I get Seven Ages DVD? Is this any good?

I'll take a gander at "Politics in the Republic of Ireland" on the way home, and let you know what it is like.
If my tiny little brain can understand it, anyone can. :pac:

Lockstep

Gerry.L wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies everybody.

Can I just ask, concerning "Politics in the Republic of Ireland", Im taking a guess, it probably goes fairly deep... deeper than a layperson would want. Is that a fair thing to say?

And how does it fair out concerning politically parties and political figures and what they have done? Or is it mainly a "technical" (sorry I cant think of a better word) book.

BTW: I was talking to a mate literally an hour ago about this subject and he recommended I get Seven Ages DVD? Is this any good?

It's a textbook for first year politics students so it's fairly easy to read. I havn't read the whole thing, just read the chapters that interested me (the courts, Constitution, how people vote and so on) It's certainly not shallow: a decent book on politics can never be. It has a "Who's who" at the back of the book, giving each major political figure and a brief synopsis of their work.

I found the book second hand for a tenner, I'd definitely recommend it.

dan_d

Your best bet, for a start, is probably either the JC or LC school books.

I did history for the JC, and while I hated it, I had an extremely thorough understanding of the ins and outs of irish politics afterwards! LC is probably closer to what you want for starters, and maybe move on elsewhere afterwards. Technically the history books should be unbiased, as they are supposed to be simply imparting facts - as far as I remember they weren't too bad, but I can't speak for the LC ones.

dingbat

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Beat me to it.

Excellent book, well written and explains everything from the Constitution to the way different people vote.Seems unbiased and probably my favourite politics book.

Add another vote - it's a very straightforward read.