'An analogue government for a digital age' was one of the clever sound bites devised from Enda Kenny's Presidential address at the Fine Gael ard-fheis on 6 May. He spoke of 'a world where we can send laser pulses 24 million km towards the planet Mercury', of a billion Google searches a day, of nine billion e-mails a year. The message was Fine Gael equals high tech, nano-second high performance, a digital party for a digital age. The reality is more prosaic, as an analysis of the promises 'rolled out' at the party conference reveals. By Vincent Browne

The emerging consensus that e-voting should be abandoned is a mistake. E-voting could deepen our democracy enormously, as well as participation rates in elections, if only the right system were obtained and if only there were a will to engage citizens more in democratic decision-making.

A few days before a crucial Dáil debate last year, Michael McDowell went to the home of Billy Flynn. There are widely conflicting accounts of how the meeting came about and what was discussed. By Vincent Browne

Michael McDowell said on Monday (24 April) gambling casinos were "more damaging to society than positive". He said: "I honestly believe that they do not add anything to the good of life in Ireland." He offered this as one of the reasons why he was proposing to introduce legislation prohibiting casinos, of which there are now 20 in the Dublin area. Another of the reasons he offered was that gambling casinos could be used as means of laundering money.

Evidence excluded in the original trial could have been presented in a new trial of Dermot Laide for the manslaughter of Brian Murphy. Marie Cassidy's evidence would not necessarily have scuttled the case. By Vincent Browne

Dublin City Council is investing €1.6 million in local parks over the coming year. The money will be spent to improve local parks in the South East of Dublin, specifically Ringsend Park and Herbert Park (pictured).

The conventional belief that transfers are crucial is wrong. Only in a few constituencies do they matter. By Vincent Browne

With estimates of 250,000 people waiting for housing, the Government has failed drastically to meet even its own targets. By Vincent Browne

In a speech at Collins Barracks on Sunday 9 April, when opening a 1916 exhibition, Bertie Ahern professed commitment to ideals which his government has disdained for almost a decade. He went on to present a potted history of Ireland of the past 90 years, which even in the most politically sectarian days of Fianna Fáil, was rarely previously equaled in bias and distortion.

A communuity garden project in Dolphin's Barn in Dublin is being forced to close up just a year after it was established. Inspired by similar projects in New York, Cork and Belfast, the garden was established in Dolphin's Barn in April 2005 on a small patch of disused land beside the Grand Canal. The land was untended and had been out of use since it was earmarked for a motorway proposal in the 1960s, but is now to be redeveloped.