Ireland's political and cultural magazine
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Nora Owen whose appeal is otherwise limited but who seems to know a lot about Fine Gael, of which she was once deputy leader, including perhaps what it represents, says Leo Varadkar came to her constituency as a 17-year-old and that “he was appallingly right-wing and very aggressive”. He was also overweight and seems to […]
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In May 2016, two District Court hearings took place that were notable for the things they had in common, but also for the disparity in their outcomes. In Letterkenny, a deaf man successfully appealed against his 2014 conviction for drink-driving on the grounds that gardaí were unable to provide an Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter […]
With worldwide news leading with elaborate but anonymous hacking operations that have interfered with recent elections in the US and France – and pose a threat to the upcoming one in the UK – many are wondering how a foreign intelligence agency can conduct a surveillance or hacking operation without engaging with local law enforcement. […]
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I am now working in the Czech Republic. Before I arrived I had a certain tourist’s knowledge of Prague and had visited briefly twice previously for short periods but the main tourist sights sell this flecked and overlaid tapestry of a city short, neglecting its diversity of specialist shops and bookstores – fast disappearing from […]
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All States and aspiring States have their ‘myth of origin’ – that is a story, true or false, of how they came into being. The myth of origin of the European Union is that it is fundamentally a peace project to prevent wars between Germany and France. Most wars are civil wars, not inter-State ones. […]
More agricultural than environmental.
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Corporate welfare is controversial. Negatively, it can mean ‘crony capitalism’ – politicians using public resources to benefit their friends in business, or at best propping up failing enterprises for short-term political gain. A more positive understanding is that corporate welfare involves the state, employers and workers co-operating on a shared project of economic development. Corporate […]
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Democracy means rule by people, however, there is some dispute as to what exactly this means in practice. It must mean more than majority rule – it cannot allow minorities to be oppressed just because they are minorities. Democracy and fairness Democracy must embrace fairness in its broadest sense. It needs to engage with […]
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The new editor of the Irish Times, Paul O’Neill, was brought up an only child in Waterford where his late father, Paddy, was editor of the ‘News and Star’. His mother Josie’s family, the Larkins, owned the well-known bar and grocery at The Duffry in Enniscorthy, now Donohoe’s/Pettitt’s. Paul started his career at that newspaper […]
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History and economics John Moran is former Secretary General at the Department of Finance. I meet him for brunch in a Mexican restaurant on bank holiday Monday. He is bright and open, and brings along his ebullient mother (but that is another story). Before elevation to the most senior position in the Department of Finance Moran […]
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Last month in Belfast the first of many commemorative events took place to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the formal founding of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, NICRA. The organisation was pivotal in bringing together all those who were discontented with the status quo in the North. Within eighteen months, a wave of protest […]
Steve Bannon, President Trump’s chief strategist, was removed from the National Security Council in early April. Among the Kremlinologists who watch the Trump White House, this has been interpreted as a setback for the man whose neo-reactionary philosophy provides the guiding principles of Trumpism: Islamophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, and excited anticipation of a new American revolution. […]
I enter the sempiternally dingy Abbey by the stage entrance and advance up the mid-century staircase to a poky room alive with two middle-aged but effervescent non-Irish Celts. The guy at the desk has said he sees a lot of them and they seem effortlessly in control. They’re informal, blithe, cheerful and open throughout our […]
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Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Ireland’s National Farmers’ Association (NFA) was a political pariah, with then Taoiseach, Fianna Fáil’s Jack Lynch threatening to have the organisation proscribed, a move that would have placed every farmer in the NFA on the same legal footing as an IRA member. That was almost exactly 50 […]
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RTÉ’s Claire Byrne show sells short epic issues like the merits of veganism. In order to fulfil adequately its anointed role, a state broadcaster must be courageous, at times running counter to prevailing sentiments.
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In the Bible, Emmanuel is the name of the Messiah, the one who comes to save men. How ironic to see that the man who appears to save France from a far-right cataclysm bears this name. With a second round win of 66,1% against Marine Le Pen, the economic liberal candidate Emmanuel Macron of En […]
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Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s chief strategist and beacon of the so-called ‘alt-right’, recently announced to cheers at the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that “the primary goal of the Trump administration” is “the deconstruction of the administrative state” or the dismantling of the public sector. Similarly, Trump’s oft-chanted populist campaign pledge to #DrainTheSwamp […]
These are challenging times for social democracy. Last year, my party took a beating in the general election. We lost many good TDs, and saw our share of the vote fall to 6.6%. Unfortunately, this result was in some ways a foretelling of what was to follow elsewhere. Over the last six weeks, we have […]
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PJ Rafferty’s mother Eileen was first brought to the Tuam Mother and Baby Home in 1951, aged 27. Pregnant outside of marriage, Eileen was discretely ushered into the home by the local parish priest, anxious to avoid a scandal in the Galway town. In an era of a Catholic Ireland seemingly devoid of empathy, compassion […]
Kenny improved the economy but had little interest in fairness or the environment; Varadkar flatters to deceive and is right-wing economically; neither he nor Coveney leaves a legacy.
