Ireland's political and cultural magazine
Interview: Phil Hogan wants to be Minister for the Environment but has a cautious agenda Fine Gael’s environment spokesperson would leave well enough alone at local authority level Tony Lowes Phil Hogan entered politics as a Kilkenny County Councillor on the death of his father, when he was 22 years old, rising to […]
By Miriam Cotton. “I’m not a pure capitalist”. “if Brian Lenihan lets the guarantee lapse after two years, which it is legally supposed to, then it has worked completely” I recently spoke to David McWilliams in his Volvo Estate in a church car-park in Dalkey. In case that seems intriguing, the purpose of our meeting […]
Posted in:
“Only 4% consider the environment the issue that will influence their vote”.
Assessments carried out by expert ecologists for the European Commission in 2008 found that only 7% of Ireland’s habitats examined are in good status, with 46% inadequate and 47% bad. Yet Budget 2011 saw a fall the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government’s funding from €2.2 billion in 2010 to €1.6 billion in 2011 – a 28% cut. Under the National Recovery Programme, this will fall to €1 billion in 2014 – a reduction of more than 50% in 4 years…
Green/FF Legacy on environmental funding Cuts, cuts, cuts…and apathy By Tony Lowes Of all the species, man is the most destructive to the environment. Almost everything we do damages air, water, or soil. And other species are disappearing at an astonishing rate as mankind proliferates. Our water quality continues to fall, costing the exchequer more […]
Micheál Martin is a non-ideological constitutional republican who derides equality of outcome and believes in equality of opportunity How would you describe your political philosophy? I’m a constitutional republican and believe strongly that economic growth and social progress are closely linked. I believe the old left/right ideological divide has no real relevance for the 21st […]
Silvio Berlusconi matted down the hair-like thing between his tentacles with his fat slimy fingers, removed himself from an Umbrian nineteen-year old, and slithered down in the lapping waters of the bath just run for him by a harem of Tuscan sexworkers. It was very late. The water gurgled gleefully in the Carrara-marbled lavatorium of […]
North’s planning and environmental protection as bad as Republic’s by Anton McCabe Environmental issues have been low in the North’s political agenda. They have, however, had political repercussions. First Minister Peter Robinson was perceived as close to developers in his East Belfast constituency. The main reason for his losing one of the safest seats in […]
Posted in:
We don’t just have uninhabited estates, we have a largely uninhabited country by Terrence McDonough Recently several auctions around the country have been forestalled by hostility from locals. For example the auction of a farm in County Meath failed in the teeth of local opposition. The auction, instituted by a bank in payment of arrears, […]
“None of us know what to do” Fintan O’Toole has a brilliant agenda but doesn’t know how to implement it Michael Smith interviews Fintan O’Toole First of all, Fintan O’Toole is very charming. He’s one of those people, like one of his Nemeses, Bertie Ahern, you think you know even if you’ve never met him. […]
Prosecute a banker (A DIY guide for Village readers) By Gary Fitzgerald Since the beginning of the banking crisis in September 2008, the government’s strategy has been to protect the banks at all costs. With the IMF/EU deal announced recently, it is now clear that the government intends that the taxpayer will pay for bank […]
Interview by Paul Dillon Michael D Higgins, veteran polymath TD for Galway West, was born in Limerick in 1941. His father, a lifelong republican, had been sentenced to death by the Free State for blowing up Mallow Bridge, but reprieved, the Cork Examiner having called for his execution. His father left his family and the […]
Posted in:
Fr Chesney defamed Contrary to lazy reports, the NI Ombudsman’s report on the 1972 ‘bloody Monday’ bombings in Claudy did not damn local priest, Fr James Chesney by Anton McCabe “Media confusion seems to have begun because the press statement from the Ombudsman’s office had a significantly different emphasis to the report” Media coverage of […]
A journey through the complexity of former Yugoslavia By Frank Shouldice Agnostic Yugoslavs suddenly became Catholic Croatians, Orthodox Serbs or Bosnian Moslems. These differences were masterfully exploited by political leaders clinging to nationalist agendas – most especially by Milosevic in Serbia and Franco Tudjman in Croatia. The train that flits through the backwaters of northern […]
Left out The vested-interest, Union-driven and flaccid left exhausted all its ideas before the catastrophe hit. The EU/IMF ‘bailout’ was supposed to be the moment of truth for Ireland’s political élites – the moment when the opposition were to come out from the shadows of the discredited and politically weak Government. In the end, the […]
Posted in:
The dysfunctional Environmental Protection Agency received cogent criticisms in a review that is taking too long by Tony Lowes Unless any of you have had to witness you ageing parents suffer with runny noses, respiratory infections and coughing, streaming eyes 14 hours a day 365 days a year. Unless you have had to endure the […]
Posted in:
The Harney Health Legacy 1997-2011 – waste and the demise of universal healthcare, but improved cancer care As each day passes, the damage this government has done to the people of Ireland and their health becomes clearer. Government policy since 1997 created the biggest boom and bust experienced by any first-world country since the 1930s. […]
As Village went to print, the main governing party had 13% support and its grumpy leader satisfied only 14% of voters. The country looks likely to finish up losing 20% of its predicted GDP to ineptitude and corruption. The country is insolvent, unless it can maintain unsustainable 6.5% growth rates, even though our leaders pretend […]
Posted in:
In the Occupied Territories Israel imposes ‘apartheid’ between Arabs and settlers. Frank Shouldice Trader Jack stands in the doorway of his souvenir shop in Manger Square in Bethlehem. Fifty yards from the Church of the Nativity it’s a prime location for selling knick-knacks and miniature religious crafts. Jack is not Bethlehem’s most famous son but […]
Despite Angela Kerins’ claims, targets have not been achieved. Michael Smith Public-sector cutbacks and unprecedented levels of unemployment are reversing hard-won gains on the path to equality for whole swathes of society. In July 2009, the Equality Authority launched its Annual Report 2009. It is telling that Angela Kerins, chairperson of the Authority, chose to […]
What did you think of Brian Cowen’s infamous radio interview?
I thought that he was asked questions about five or six of the fundamental issues that are now facing the country, and he failed to answer them with any clarity. My analysis of the present situation is that even though there are real economic problems, there is an underpinning problem which is to do with confidence, and unless the political leadership is decisive and makes decisions, that will continue. Whether he was drinking at night or not is immaterial to me.
