Ireland's political and cultural magazine
We should look to Co-operative and Cohousing solutions to the Housing Crisis caused by dependence on developers and prejudice against social housing by Caroline Hurley and Kim O’Shea THE RUMBLING by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) of a dangerous gang engaged in prolonged extortion of building companies for protection, leading to High Court drama in […]
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An Bord Pleanála is anachronistically heedless to the heritage of Dublin’s most famous and vibrant working-class suburb by Kevin Duff THE LIBERTIES area is a special part of Dublin with a rich social and architectural history dating to the twelfth century when the area preserved its own jurisdiction, though it was otherwise part of the […]
As allegations continue to be made about the involvement of Robert Nairac in the Miami Showband massacre, how compromised is Garda Commissioner Harris who was PSNI liaison with Britain’s intelligence services? By Deirdre Younge. In the High Court in Belfast the British Government’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) and British Army are applying to have cases […]
The parties’ election manifestos are elusive about the structure of the united Ireland to which they aspire. By Anna Mulligan. The biggest geo-political concern for this country is the possibility that in this decade, or even in the lifetime of the next government, a majority of people in Northern Ireland could be in favour […]
A memoir with thin narrative and little polemic nevertheless reveals a steely and moral man with a belief in a consensual United Ireland. Reviewed By Kevin Kiely. Most people reading this will know who they consider the heroic protagonists of Northern Ireland’s peace process. Few will acknowledge the role of David Trimble or enthuse about the […]
By Professor Thomas Harrington. Though it is largely forgotten today, there was during the late 1980s and early 1990s a vigorous debate in numerous sectors of European life about whether the EU would be best structured as a Union of Regions or as a Union of States. Adherents of the first posture hoped and believed that the goal the […]
By Rory O’Sullivan Election 2020 threatens to be another continuity vote with the Taoiseach yet again coming from one of Ireland’s two civil-war parties. Given their projected vote share this should be the left’s best election since the foundation of the state. Instead, despite having support equalling the combined vote-shares of Fine Gael […]
By Edmund Honohan MEDIA ANALYSIS of the EU Commission’s 2016 Apple judgment that Ireland gave the company €13bn in illegal tax aid is half-baked, and the Irish government’s defence even worse. The implications of the judgment are much further-reaching than many realise. The Commission has argued that Apple’s two subsidiary companies in Ireland – […]
Up until two years ago Joaquim ‘Quim’ Torra was a business executive and cultural activist who had never been involved in electoral politics. However, when the Spanish central government dissolved the Catalan parliament over its late October 2017 vote in favour of seceding from Spain, and subsequently ordered new elections that it clearly presumed […]
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By David Langwallner. November 2019. Of course there is no practical benefit to Brexit. Indeed our Irish perspective is that the British are jumping off a cliff with no parachute. However, I am a barrister in turbulent London and I also refute caricature portrayal, by the likes of Fintan O’Toole, of Brexiteers as […]
INTRODUCTION Last December Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had to slap down Priti Patel MP, who now serves as Britain’s Home Secretary, when she threatened the Republic with food shortages if the Irish Government did not drop demands for the Irish backstop. Varadkar reminded Patel of the starvation that had engulfed Ireland in the 19th century and […]
James Molyneaux MP was one of the most significant figures in Unionist politics during the Troubles. He was first elected as a Westminster MP in 1970 for the then dominant Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and served as its leader 1979-1995. He was also an Orangeman and a member of the Monday Club, a right-wing pressure […]
By Michael Smith. The only positive conclusion from the immolation of Labour in Britain is that it was its leader and not its policies that forced the tragedy. In late November pollsters YouGov asked the British public questions about the popularity of Labour’s manifesto, published earlier in the month. The tax rises on the rich […]
Arlene Foster, Leader of the DUP, has a rich and ancient Gaelic heritage with a family tree dominated by two august Irish surnames – Doonan and Kelly. Her more distant ancestors, who spoke Gaelic, would have considered themselves part of the Ó Dúnáin and Ó Ceallagh clans, not Doonans or Kellys. Her family tree also […]
Village often gets frustrated by the weakness of the Left and of the Greens. However, it aims in general terms to be supportive of them, particularly in their radical forms. This is because they come closest – though still not that close – to furthering the agenda of equality of outcome, sustainability and accountability that […]
By Estelle Birdy. About 8,700 people in Ireland await a decision on asylum claims. 6,000 live in Direct Provision. Of these, 778 have received refugee status or ‘leave to remain’ but are unable to find alternative accommodation. Another 1,531 people live in […]
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By Bryan Wall. In a development that shocked very few people Ian Bailey was found guilty of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in a French court in May. After a four-day trial and deliberating for five hours a panel of three judges sentenced Bailey to 25 years in prison. He was also ordered […]
WEATHER FORECASTS were always things for older people, like manners and leaf tea. And indeed for olden days: D-Day was only possible because of some superhuman advance-weather-divining from a sage in Blacksod. Many of the ‘War’ generation seemed obsessed with the weather forecast, well beyond the point of refusing to acknowledge its shocking deviance. The […]
By Mick Wallace OF COURSE I understood that the European Parliament represents a different way of working to that of the Dáil, but to say just how the European Parliament compares with what I had expected is difficult, mainly because I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew that it could be even more […]
