Everything you ever wanted to know about elections seems to sum up the book by barrister Noel Whelan which will be launched by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, on Thursday. Politics, Elections and the Law is devoted to the law governing campaigns, elections and political activity and covers requirements from nomination to counting in Dail, Seanad, Euro, Presidency and local authority contests. All legal aspects are included, from postal voting to constituency boundaries, expenditure controls and the Public Office Commission, to political fundraising and the declaration of interests. There's also the thorny subject of constitutional referendums and the McKenna judgment.
Heavy legal stuff indeed, but there's a bit of light relief in the "Did You Know" section. A person of "unsound mind" cannot stand for the Oireachtas but there is no prohibition of one being elected president, because such an eventuality hasn't been tested; one has to be a graduate to vote on the Seanad university panels, but one doesn't have to be a graduate to be a candidate. Whelan describes his book as the rules of the sport rather than the results of the game, which he has published before. He has been a player himself. He stood unsuccessfully for FF in Dublin South East last time out, but is staying on the side-lines this time out and concentrating on building up his bar practice.